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Filed by Charles Evans
GAME 1 |
GAME
2- I was getting ready to go on foot when I asked Havok for a ride in the new Marauders APC, I took the turret as this was my favorite spot. We took off and tagged in picking, up Big Dog in center gunner position. Webber, joined in as shotgun for co axle gunner position. This high bread machine makes no noise, so stealthy in fact at one point we snuck up while driving while we were all talking about who and where to shoot a poor fellow. Lets say if he was a jackass, the back part would be the area in which he was violated. It was Webber's shot. We all chuckled because the guy's emotions must have been ruined; or he was still simply in pain and utter shock. Ouch! We all laughed uncontrollably. This just may have been too funny to watch. We moved on and took out Ops Force players like scrambling flys. Then we were finally taken out. We went back to the Marauders camp, to reload, and refresh. While checking in on our safety meeting, we geared up to insure all was well with everyone, and everyone was having a good time. All was going pretty well as you could hear the ruffled feathers of the Mad Hatters "hating" on the tanks. The complaints flew in, so we went afoot. Loading all four of my pods, I headed out. Pindar at full left rear flank and none other then Ajnin from Fatal Paint as a medic. We pressed the far northern west, flank denying them any forward advancement, we pressed moving low and through the water mud bog trench. I engaged with a member from Jolt, I used my best cover tactics to get and move after every shot he fired. Since he was shooting a pump at me, the balls were zing by each time closer and closer as I was getter closer and closer. This went on for about 5 minutes. I reloaded pods laying straight forward. I had to dive to the ground with out any real cover. I figured I would probably get shot in the mask. Just then, I jumped up and moved over to my right, with my marker drawn left for the bunkering. This is it. I press forward super fast, and boom, took him, out, I realize I'm further along and still alive. Then I planned a small scheme. I spun around hard right, to the old duce army truck. I saw three players on the other side. I started taking them out and making them scramble to expose themselves. I as going to take them out with no doubt. Pressing forward, I remove one more player at the edge of the woods. Shaking my hopper I realize it's that time. I'm at 40 to 50 shots, I pressed toward my west flank to draw paint from the enemy opposition, the Mad Hatters. Whom attention was taken away for a moment with some long balls. Just then I got shot in the foot by Joey (Team Jolt) from across the field. Time to head back to Marauders camp and reload and get air from Airwolf. Night game approaches. GAME-3 I switch my lens out, and get ready to head for the night game. I chrono at 250. Can we say what a high arch rainbow. Take time to check your shot when shooting this low. You don't want to be caught at night not being able to see your shot trajectory. So you need to retrain quickly where you can see and make note of the gun angle for muscle memory, this works great, for me, I moved out with this in mind. I knew I would run into others shooting above this speed, so I went old school on 'em, and made sure to move with extreme caution. I also set my taps wisely. At night every player seems to be at a bunker. We were pressed in when spotlights come across the hill down on our position. I stood in full view as they lit me up for a bit. But no shots rang out. I moved closer to the next bunker being followed by Bigdog. I suddenly decided to back off from the light and move to the tape line's shadow, then I pressed forward to the left of them. I moved in straight from their immediate right, pressing past the helicopter. I was then spooked by Bigdog's flashing lights but moved with caution toward the spotlights near the last position. |
Nothing.
No engagement. They're not there on our outer perimeter, I noticed the cement
tunnel running down and checked it carefully in case, you know someone sneaky
is there. There were berry bush thorns, nice. I laughed. Most players won't
be in there, I moved atop of the cement tunnel giving me an over-view of
the clear areas and the three other intersecting paths from the Mad Hatters'
CP. I tell myself "I bet, they went back to tell them". Sure thing, just
a few moments later I notice movement on center path. Two players moving
shoulder to shoulder, I waited until they crossed to the open. Since they
were shoulder to shoulder to each other, they were then were shot ad I yell
out "your out". They went for a tag in. I was then sure they would be back.
I told Bigdog (he had shot one of the players at the same time) "They're
going to come back. I'll move down and choke em off from there. Stay up
here and draw 'em in. Sure thing like clock work. Those two were shot out
again. At this point in time I scrambled back up to Bigdog. I moved up and
a fight ensued, Bigdog was shot out some how, but I shot that player. I
moved to the far right on the dirt hill watching all previous kill positions
for their anticipated return. Here they come. I laid down watching them
and waiting for them to take position. Just as they kneeled down I blasted
'em both out again. Pindar walked up just as it happened. I head a branch
crack behind me and spun around looking down the dark path. Only one little
green LED light but I'm not chancing it. Bam bam bam bam; I separate my
shots as the LED flash, "I'm out the players yells" and sure thing, he was
not on my team! Time to move, I pressed back now separated, and by myself.
I moved through the very thick woods. That night I was having some minor
fog problems. Heading back to the CP, I jumped up and started to walk in.
As I do, I heard this interview going on and they ask "Is that one of yours,"
"yeah" they say, "No" I'm thinking. I get lit up with a light and quickly
say turn it off. Did you see anyone? The light goes off, and the guy approaches
me and is within a few feet, I barrel tag him in the near same instance
as my arm moves he figures it out. He's getting barrel tagged. I quickly
say "Don't say anything you're a dead",. The player walked toward the CP
as he argues. Boom CP taken, I quickly take their green cool florescent
glow stick. No CP Light for you………..they argue with me about the fact of
the take saying he could have shot me. "Well", I said, "I could have shot
you, but you got barrel, tagged". He said "I put the light on you", I said
"This isn't laser tag!" But, "it's all good". I said "Have respect, you
know what happened". The three said we'll then go out and come back. "OK",
I said. I headed, out and noticed, who else, but a 6 pack or so of the Marauders.
Nice. "I'll be back, I have to reload, and get a different gun". I said.
I quickly changed out for my Quest and grab my pre-filled pods, and fill
the gun, run back out and yell MARAUDERS. Quickly a response from Shadowhawk.
I noticed he was hidden so well. Collatarol was doing major damage from
his position, Minishadow, Redball, Bigdog, Littledog, and I'm not sure who
else. Were headed toward their CP no engagement what so ever, then we almost
blast Redball who led a real fast flank scouting move and popped up in front
of us all. We then headed toward the CP with only two in resistance. We
quicly made them squelch to a non merciful ending. His lesson for not wearing
your pants on the field. So he was blasted! I Noticed no other resistance
So we swept the field all the way back to our CP. We were yelling "MARAUDERS!!",
We had Shadowhawk, chanting something to the effect of Stoncutterz come
out and play. Like a scene from Warriors. We checked in with the General
and let him know no one else was on the field other than the three at the
other CP. Who don't want none; and couldn't handle the Marauders mighty
night jungle fighters. WE won the Game. No awards for the Marauders, but
we won prizes. I won carnage gloves and some pants. I them gave to Bigdog.
Littledog won a box full of paint grenades, Rasputin won a nice gun bag.
Ranza won a 3 pod pack and pods and gave it to a small kid that won a gun
and some other items. Shadowhawk, won a Ricochet Hopper. It was funny, we
were cleaning up. Long pack a long drive, were back and see you on Sunday.
All Marauders were out at different times, and at the same time, Recon Battalion present were Havok, Redball, Pindar Thermos, Shadowhawk, Virus, Big Dog, Little Dog, Sir Killalot, Killa Ranza, Collatarol, MiniShadow, and Rasputin |
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Marauders were
playing their favorite game. Outnumbered by as much as a
third and surrounded. Sunday
October 16th, 2005
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Filed by Charles Evans
Game one - Marauders Hold Fort Charlie, Ops Force Attack and Red Halo takes Bunker. Sergeant
Virus of the Marauders’ 3rd Squad Reporting.
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Game
Two Sunday October 16th, 2005 Ops Force Holds Fort Charlie and Holds off Marauders attack. Prior to the game I went over map positions and added extra forces to the tower, I explained each field of fire and told the team not to be so distracted by other fire fights. We placed a surrounding defense ring on the inner perimeter to hold all positions adding extra coverage to the 5,6,7 O’clock ,with a sweeping crew on stand-by for the 12 and 9 positions, Shadow Hawk and Germ would cover the 1 and 2 O’clock with a line of sight on 3 O' clock. we placed our Sniper Swampthing at the 1 O' O Clock for cross fire coverage on the front of the bunkers facing the 3,4,5 O’clock. I took the center bunker with Red Halo. We saw Predator on the move, Predator and Virus started to fire against each other. After a few minutes of battling I was able to get eliminate Predator taking one of his two lives. Just then Red Halo alerted me that there are two Marauders attacking from the creek side and three moving toward the 12 O’clock. I shot toward t two attacking Marauders. at the 6 and 7 O’clock. Then I redirected my fire pressing back an attack at the 12 covering Germ and Shadow Hawk. I looked over to check the tower. I heard this crazy sound of the an Ion belonging to Red Halo going off and removing a Marauder, I then asked for movement and position to be called out from the ops force. They sounded off some positions and we adjusted accordingly. The sweeping crew and I gave area fire to the attack positions around the Fort. We then ran into the bunker to check how we were doing. We are fully covered, I check the 9 O clock to see Sandman in the distance. I am now low on air and unable to shoot that far, Sandman shoots and hits the bunker with great accuracy. I moved back out to cover the 3,4, and 5 O’clock position and cover Red Halo, Then the Whistle blew and the time was up! Ops Force Holds Fort Charlie! Game Two won by the Op Force. After the Game I thanked all the players. I was truly amazed at their skill and ability to concentrate on their objectives. It was a true team effort and the Ops Force finally showed signs of some amazing playing, They all had smiles of excitement to have won the second game in a row. I thought my leadership was pretty good. I asked them how some of the suggested strategies worked and they report they worked flawless. Great Job Guys! Game Three October 16th, 2005 Marauders Hold Fort Apache, Ops Force Attacks and Virus Takes Bunker. We were all geared up and ready to go, standing at Fort Charlie. I asked the players to gather again. I began pointing to the map showing everyone the clock positions, This is to insure everyone knows where they need to be and where the teammates will be. It will cut down on confusion. I also explained that I had never attacked or played this part of the field. One player said he has had some luck attacking from 9 O clock position. He was correct that this was a good spot for a quick run to take the bunker. This is also how I moved in to win this game (although it was not part game plan at the start), I knew in my gut knowing this would be a true battle. I ask the Red to move a small patrol to the 6, and 7 o’clock positions, and to wait for other guy’s shooting to begin as a signal. I explained that they should then retreat back and flank the positions when if and when they got pined down They could then retreat back to 9 O clock for last minute attack. I took the remaining group (as large as a 12 players) to follow me for break-off squad, We would slowly encircle the field; first moving players in groups of two and three giving position orders to the small groups. They would hold and attack from 12 and 2 o’clock with cover fire from all of 4, 5, 6 and 7 O’clock positions. Just as soon as the Red Halo group started to attack, the 12 O clock would ring out with fire, There would be one man at the 2 O’clock. The two three-man groups would spread out to their assigned positions. I started to engage from the 12 O' clock as the 7 O’clock started to heat up. |
I could see the back of two individuals sweeping to that position to engage. Just then the 12, 1, and 2 O’clock woke up with fire. Then sweeping with the two twin blue masks, and the Germ War Fair squad took position from the 3 and 4. They were as green as they could be, but very eager, I moved to catch up to Shadow Hawk as he tailed the two sweeper groups. When the sweeping to encircle was complete, the Marauders were surrounded. Because the 11 and 10 are very heavy with brush, I moved in undetected behind a fighting position, I shot one marauder, then I moved more to the 4 O’clock position where Shadow Hawk and me could not be seen, I crept low and moved forward knowing the battle was increasing as fire from all sides now rang out. You could see the Marauders moving about for cover and to adjust for tighter coverage, I then I heard a voice; HOW FAR UP? What startled me was Shadow Hawk talking. I could not see him what so ever. A few moments later Shadow Hawk engages the bunker. I was then was surprised by Metal Dragon 10 Feet away, a few seconds later Metal Dragon shot out Shadow Hawk, His second life gone, Shadow Hawk was now eliminated from the game. A few seconds later Metal dragon was on the move. I aimed and shot at him with my RT, he dove to the ground so quick and laid flat as I yelled “Check it”. He
calls “WOUND”, I thought “Oh great” and tuck behind my gun and lay
out a half hopper full of balls as he to starts to rapid fire in the same
manner. What fun it is
to battle like this, paint is spraying everywhere;
ball breaks all over the grass and weeds I am laying in. Then tags
me in the shoulder, and one with that he hit me in the head without breaking,
the Green-silverfish balls with green fill, spray with-out breaking on
my mask, ( funny ) I get
up and check him for paint he was shot out, We then both head for tag
up. After finding a medic
I head right back to the 9 O clock as the group was collecting for
final attack. I hear
“I am out of paint”, and “I am out of Air”,.
I check with Germ to see if he wanted to take the chance
and head for the bunker. I then turned around and started to run
toward the bunker, jumping over some seriously large tree’s and holes.
I shoot toward the bunker gun-slits while on the move in
full Virus Mode. I
zig-zaged shooting all the way,
I dove to the ground on the 6 O clock
and placed my barrel through the gun slit , Three Marauders were
inside with a couple others on the far side of the bunker. They
looked out and said “Virus?” “Yep”
I said “Game Over”, They asked me to come in the bunker for a paint
check, I crawled in with the three Marauders.
Outside there was no whistle and the game was still intense.
Paintballs are hitting from the ops force against the
bunker while I am being checked.
No breaks that would count. There were some serious bounces along
the way; one off the shoulder and one on the leg.
One more bounced dead in the chest.
Predator blew the whistle to end the game. Game Three Won
by Ops Force! Note: After
the game I walked out and congratulated the Ops force on a job well done,
three games won in a row. This
is unheard of I explained. They
should all be proud. I thanked them for doing well and sticking to the
objective. I also told
them I would see them on
the next game and to have their own ops force call signs ready, Special
thanks to Ops force team and Marauders for a great day of fun play. |
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It
was the largest game in Marauder History! A total of 66 players.
(some estimated 80) TEAM
LOCKDOWN came in from the Sacramento Area with 25 players.
Only five Team Lockdown had been to the Island before, of these only one
was present. The rest would have to learn this very complex
playing field as they went along. After attacking in the first game
against the largest MARAUDER FORCE ever assembled (27 patch-wearing Marauders
showed up for the shootout), it was Team Lockdown's turn to defend
Fort Charlie. Marauders started at Fort Apache. They formed
three strike teams. First and Fourth Squads would cross the Slot and proceed
to the 10 and 11 O'clock positions of the Sand Berm cross the slot again
and hit at the ridge of Fort Charlie's 9'Oclock. (shown as red arrows)
Second Squad would make the run from the 3 O'clock to split Lockdown's
guns between two directions and take the Alpha Bunker. (shown in
yellow arrows) Third Squad would divert more fire from the 6 O'clock.
(Shown in blue arrows) Third Squad was led by Camoman and took the
majority of the walk-on
associate players (non-marauders). |
When
they reached their jump-off point, cover fire was laid down on the
9 O'clock ridge of Fort Charlie. The sentry withdrew under the heavy
rate of fire of the 11 man patrol. The withdrawal of those players
gave the 1st squad an unexpected opening. Predator crossed the slot
and secured the ridge for the following Marauders. Without firing a shot,
all of First Squad assembled along the ridge just out of sight of
the defenders. Fourth Squad proceeded as planed around River Point and to
the 9 and 8 O'clock . When they were in position, Predator looked up and
found 2 Lockdown players in a fighting position on the Maverick Creek ridge
engaged with Third Squad who were now delivering fire from the 6 O'clock.
Four long ball shots from his Tippmann flat-line Custom and they were gone.
This woke up 2 players in defense positions 10 feet to his left. They opened
up but by then Metal Dragon arrived with more Marauders. They all began
firing at the Fort. The two defenders to the left were shooting at
Fourth Squad, who they thought took out the two players shot by Predator.
They forgot about the seven other players directly to their right and exposed
their heads a little too much. It was they who were taken out
next. This gave the entire 9 O'clock to the control of Marauders.
They exploited this expeditiously. They moved across the narrow flat
plateau. The intensity of the fire was amazing. There were approx.
66-70 paintball guns of all description firing as fast as possible.
Predator moved along the ridge from the 9 to the 7 O'clock. He noticed
nobody was shooting at him. At this point he approached the waterbed
bunker. Still no fire. He then casually walked up to the gun
port at the 7 O'clock and put his gun through to end the game. Mongoose
and Instigator from Fourth Squad had done all the clearing in this area
that allowed Predator this rare opportunity to waltz up and end the game. Team Lockdown had done a great job to give us one of the best games ever played at the Island. Despite not knowing exactly where the fire was coming from, and being heavily outnumbered, they put up a great fight. The real lesson here is one Marauders learned soon after building Ft Charlie. To hold the Fort, you cannot give up the surrounding area defense positions. To keep them you have to stay low and not expose yourself to the 360 degree fire from the attackers. Loose those positions and the occupiers of the stockade cannot see enough of what's going around them enough to keep defenders out. |
To take the Fort you have to bring enough fire to bear on the defenders to suppress them while your team maneuvers. This takes timing from all the attacking teams to split the defenders guns and keep them from working on one attack team at a time. Marauders pulled this off after a year of practice. They won that Game with their experience on that field. They had more players on the field but it was the Marauder regular players that made the difference through the doctrine of fire and maneuver. The beginners who added to the numbers were doing what they always do; find a comfortable place and lob long balls with no effect. The Island is one of the most complex game fields in existence. Nobody has a great first day playing there. It took 3 months for the Marauders to finally take Fort Charlie from the defenders. Lessons were hard learned. We hope to see TEAM LOCKDOWN again, but we know every time they return they will be harder to deal with. They were the largest and toughest team we ever hosted and became the first recipients of the Marauders home field Guest Op-Force Ribbon . It was our honor to play this honest and safe Paintball Association. We salute them for a job well done!
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First
Amphibious Assault Marauders are known for executing outlandish grueling battle maneuvers. In the winter months you may find them crawling along muddy riverbanks and stepping over and under trees, limbs, branches, and rocks. They cross mud silt ponds. They have waded through chest deep cold river waters; carrying their guns overhead, silent and unseen. All for the enjoyment of an ultimate surprise attack. Today one would don a wetsuit and swim down the Parjaro River. It was the first week of March, and it seemed that the last of the heavy winter storms had finally ceased. The sun had begun to burn through the early morning clouds, and low lying mist. On this day all those who had arrived at the Island were mostly Marauder Regulars. In The first battle, the squads were evenly divided with 1st and 2nd squad against the 3rd and 4th squad. The latter were assigned as the defenders of the Island's "Fort Charlie”. 1st Sgt. CamoMan along with Sgt. Mongoose’s 4th Squad. (The Ant Squad), plus two new "Knight Crawlers", were first to set across the new bridge heading to Fort Charlie. After the doubled squads gathered at each end of the field to discuss confidentially their battle plans, Metal Dragon dropped his stuffed backpack at the boots of 1st and 2nd squad and Sgt. Maj. Predator. Predator announced that Dragon would be attempting the Marauders' first full downriver assault. Mst. Sgt. Sandman validated the scenario with a nod. Their evil smiles flashed as the proceeding orders clarified their roles in the assault. Punisher, Reaper, Big Dog, and Samurai were to push forward at the 3 o’clock with Sgt. Papa and Tanker, crawling to the opposing river bank from the 6 o’clock for an aggressive attack. If the camouflaged covered Dragon on his floating decoy was detected by the gunners of the tower, it would possibly be enough of a distraction for a flank assault to be successful. |
January’s heavy rains had washed away the old Marauder bridge. The Marauder Corp of Engineers had been sweating bullets in their sleep wondering if the pelting rainfall of those final winter storms would destroy their winter efforts of the newly built and stronger bridge. For the entire past month, the surrounding rivers had been brim full on both sides of the Island. Even the Slot had become a small creek that separated the long narrow landmass of trees, bamboo, and foliage called the Sand Berm. This cut off access from Island to the Pajaro River shoreline, unless one was to wade the short distance across the Slot. But the night before a natural formed damn had broken downstream allowing the Slot to recede into a deep, slimy mud pit gully. The
plan was code named ‘Still Gonna’. Because of that morning's
declining river level, the attack wasn’t going to be as strategic
as planned. The banks had become exposed, allowing accessibility. This
offered a certain probability of observation from the defenders, as they
could suspect a gully/riverbank assault. |
The intruding Marauders front line fire kept the camo umbrella, with Dragon behind it, from being sighted. He reported that it worked well in gathering thrust. It was like a sail in the current but it complicated his escape through the dense limbs of the river shoreline. He beached just as planned, before the threatening merging creek at river point. All the squads were heavily engaged in gunfire from the 24 guns present. There was a loud boom and then a well known frightening blast from 1st Sgt Reaper’s grenade launcher that sent a rain of paint, partially smothering the tower: But the fighting defenders survived unscathed. It was then that Predator and Sandman sprang without hesitation and had quickly maneuvered through the fallen timber and green foliage. All along the edge of The Slot's steep, slick bank, Marauders were under a storm of fire from a mix of semi and automatic guns. As they fought back to gain further positions. Punisher, Reaper, Big Dog and Samurai kept the front lines engaged in a fuselage of fire. Papa and Tanker‘s ambush turned to a hail of fire from the Fort and they were both eventually eliminated. Dragon had slipped up into his position with all intentions to seize Fort Charlie. But he found himself in the middle of some serious enemy fire. Dragon joined Sandman and Predator as they pushed around to the 9 o’clock side. The echoes of full autos rang everywhere with enough fire power to paint a barn inside and out. The front attack line began to collapse. Dragon’s mask had been fogged and his gun jammed with damp, gooey, paintballs. One lone Walk-On gallantly swept Sandman and Predator from the left. While still charging at gunpoint, he forced Dragon to surrender as last man out. The Fort’s defending 3rd and 4th squadron were awarded victory. The ‘Still Gonna’ mission failed; and because of Dragon's use of the umbrella, is now jokingly referred to as "The Mary Poppin’s River Assault". |
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Fort San Miguel Sunday August 29, 1998 was a slow day at Fort San Miguel compared to our average combat day. The turnout of players was light and even many of the Marauders were absent. Most notably absent was Wizard and the 4th Squad regulars such as Brain and the recently returned Doc. Wizard usually brings a stock of paintballs from the supply depot. When the question of ammo came up for a few people, Commander McBragg resolved the problem by jumping into his truck and going on a supply mission to J&S Surplus. The Opposition Force for the day was made up of Brutal-Bob's stepson Steven, Brain's "pinch-hitter" Joe and Aaron, who is from Washington and started coming out to our field during the summer. Bob and his son Bob arrived and a few of the guys from the paintball team, S.C. DoggPound showed up. Other arrivals were Bruce and a handful of local players who know where they can find a good game every other Sunday! The first game of the day had the Marauders occupying the Fort. Their mission would be to defend the fort against better than two-to-one odds. It would be a forty-minute game. The objective for the Opposition-Force was simple, all they had to do was to Take Fort San Miguel! The Marauders had agreed to deploy within the fortress area rather than out around the field as snipers or pickets. They would not leave the fortress area until they were fired on by the attacking Op-Force. After that, the Marauders would be free to maneuver. They could conduct a static defense or initiate roving defensive patrols as they saw fit. They deployed in among the bunker-pits and the connecting trenches that make up Fort San Miguel and watched the Op-Force units maneuver in the field. A two or three man team worked their way uphill through the trees to get on the ridge overlooking the lower end of the fort. From the ridge they could fire down on some of the positions with what really amounts to harassing fire, though it can make you keep your head down! Others worked around in the field but never seemed to get close enough to do more than lob in the long-balls. Long range shots can be fun to watch and occasionally you can pick off a target or two, but if you really want to take a fortified position, you can't just sit out in a field and use up all your ammo! Sooner or later you have to close with the target and go in to take it! After-action reports mentioned a four-man Op-Force team who had worked their way up onto the wooded hill above the upper end of the fortress where the Marauder's defense was light, but they never came down to attack. Apparently, after checking out the situation the Op-Force team pulled back and withdrew from the area without taking advantage of a perfect opportunity launch an attach through the backdoor to the fort! The two Marauders who were defending the upper end of the main trench-line were nearly dumfounded! "I don't understand it," said Pacman. "They had us! They had our flank, they had us outnumbered and they had the high ground and then they left!" |
Meanwhile, down at the lower end of the fortress area, a sudden volley of fire from several guns came in on the out-post bunker at the edge of the ditch. At least two rounds managed to find their target eliminating Maj.D.Saster, who as fate would have it, was the only Marauder to be eliminated, (recreational fatality)? After that it was a matter of the remaining Marauders holding their positions until the clock ran out. In game two, the Opposition Force took the walk to defend the fort. They were not subject to any rules about remaining in the fort until being fired upon and could start their defense anywhere in or around the fortress area. The Marauders moved out from the bivouac to begin their assault and take the fort. They advanced across the field, cutting across the fortress area's front and just flirting with the extreme range of their opponent's guns. As the skirmish-line turned left and moved in towards the fortress ridge, Maj.D.Saster found himself at the outside end of the line. He paused for a moment before crossing a drainage ditch and looked around. To his left he could hear Predator, Pacman and Cmdr.McBragg crossing the ditch and advancing towards the embankment. He was about to move out when he heard a dull metallic click to his right! Maj.D Saster knew he was the end of the line, there should not be anyone to his right! Advancing with his gun up he spotted a man in the ditch just a few short yards away and opened fire! "OK, OK! I'm Out! My gun's down!" Was the prompt response from his opponent, who wanted to fix his malfunctioning hardware and continue the fight, but Maj.D.Saster said, "Nope! We engaged and you called yourself out! Sorry, but your dead!" Because he had just eliminated Bob, he knew that Bob's son had to be somewhere nearby. Rather than search for him, D.Saster moved out to keep up with the advance. As he moved from one position of concealment to the next, he would stop and watch to their rear for any pesky sniper types that might have some funny ideas about following along and trying to shoot them in the back. Eventually he got up on the embankment and could hear Pacman and Predator and the others making their assault on the fortress. Taking advantage of the embankments higher elevation, Maj.D paused once more to check the field for snipers. Not seeing any immediate threats and at the same time hearing a sudden increase in the sounds of guns firing and guys yelling, he rolled over the top of the embankment and into an erosion ditch. From there he could see down the slope to the upper end of the main trench where there were at least two men with their backs to him. Thinking he had gotten himself into a position behind the opposition, he came up ready to fire at what he thought were Op-Force fighters around the trenches. Luckily, he recognized Pacman and realized he was about to shoot Cmdr.McBragg in the back! Cmdr.McBragg was advancing along the right side of the trenchline. Pacman and Predator were across from him advancing down the left side between the main trench-line and the big ditch. Brutal Bob was the outside man of this skirmish-line. His patrol went down in the big ditch, which put him in a good position to cover the left flank of his own team from sniper-types that may be out in the field, or to attack into the right of the Op-Force team in the fort! D.Saster ran down the hill and jumped into the large bunker-pit. He advanced down the main trench-line, passing between Cmdr McBragg and Pacman, in order to occupy the main bunker pits and connecting trench. As he moved forward, he could see the oppositions guns raise up above the dirt bastions of the fort to fire, only to be quickly smothered by volleys of paintballs coming in on them from several different angles.
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As the Marauder's skirmish-line rolled up the defense, Opposition-Force units were calling themselves out and the final trench and bunker were being cleared. Once they were in the main bunker, Cmdr McBragg and Maj.D.Saster could see Sandman across from them on the sniper-trail signaling that he was a Marauder and that there were possible Op-Force elements in the trees along the forward slope of the ridge above the fort. The entire line opened up with all guns on what looked like the ammo-hopper on a paintball gun, but it turned out to be an old coffee can. After the short but decisive firefight, the potential threat of the hostile coffee can was neutralized! The Marauders immediately declared the fortress as occupied and blew the whistle to signal "game-over"! Predator, Maj.D.Saster,
Pacman, Cmdr.McBragg, Brutal-Bob and Sandman! This small force
of six, (The Dirty Half-Dozen?) managed to take Fort San Miguel from an
occupation force of more than twice their strength and did not loose a
single man! What a team! |
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More Fort San Miguel It was about 0730hrs on Sunday
September 13, 1998 Renegade and Mrs. Renegade checked in, but they could not stay as they had other places to be that day. There would be no Mama'Sans Kitchen. Brutal Bob drove in bringing the soon to be Mrs. Brutal and Steven. They were followed by Sandman, and then Brain and Brain's friend Joe. We all sat around for awhile wondering what kind of turnout we were going to have for the day when Druid showed up. And then to everyone's surprise, Predator unexpectedly came rolling in somewhat earlier than anticipated! Eventually a total of ten players made it to the field over the course of the day. Sometime in the afternoon Landon, a local independent player, showed up to even out the player count at five against five Predator, Maj.D.Saster, Druid and
Joe made up one team while Brain, Brutal Bob, Sandman, Steven, and Skittles,
who is an independent player and former SC Dogpound associate made up
the other team. Once on the hill, the defenders had
to decide how they could best hold this ridgeline of trenches and pits
with only four men. They decided to base their defense in the field area
behind the main trench-line and to stay close together so that they could
concentrate their gunfire.
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The garrison was sitting behind the trench line in the shadows under bushes, waiting for the assault team to come up over the edge of the ridge from the big ditch and into the fortress area. After the battle Brain commented, "It was kind of weird to come in that close and have no one shooting at you!" The assault team spotted some of the garrison's positions and began lobbing in the long-ball shots from out in the field as they continued their advance towards the ridgeline. One player fired off several rounds at Maj.D.Saster, who could see the balls as they came in towards him on their long arching trajectories. At this range, most of the incoming rounds just landed harmlessly around him. A few rounds came in so close that he could hear the zip of the balls as they passed by, barely missing him. After the game, Maj.D.Saster said, "I just tried to remain still, thinking that if he didn't see any reaction, then maybe he might think he was just shooting at shadows". Sandman had gotten up onto the ridge and had worked his way into the fortress area, actually crossing over the main trench-line towards the garrison team's main line of defense. To counter Sandman's move, Predator advanced into the main trench-line and was soon engaged in a shoot-out with Sandman. Somehow, both players managed to eliminate each other. Joe took a hit and was eliminated at about the same time and it is a possible that Sandman had something to do with eliminating Joe. But that is just speculation around headquarters, based on the near geographic proximity as well as the timing of these events. The threat of Sandman in the fort had been eliminated but the garrison had lost two men. Maj.D.Saster got up and moved into some better cover and eventually got into the main bunker pit where Druid soon joined him. Druid stayed to hold the main bunker area while Maj.D.Saster ran up the main trench to the upper pit. As he climbed up out of the large pit and down into one of the smaller pits that overlook the edge of the ridge, he came under fire from elements of the assault team who were out in the field. As he stood up and fired back at them, he saw his antagonists duck for cover among the bushes, so he rolled out of the small pit and slid down into the ditch that runs along the front of the Fort San Miguel ridgeline. Without stopping, he crawled along the ditch until he was behind a thick clump of brush and directly under the gun-ports of the Bravo bunker.
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Druid was now occupying "Boxcar's Bunker" and could see Maj.D in the ditch below him. There was a lot of incoming rounds from at least two assault force guys out in the field but his defensive fire was forcing them to keep their distance. Maj.D.Saster looked up over his shoulder and could see the co2 muzzle-flash of Druid's gun from within the small fort. From what seemed like just a few feet in front of him, he could hear the attacker's voices as well as their gunfire. Sitting in the bottom of the ditch and watching to make sure he was not followed, he listened to gunshots from in front of him and from behind. The paintballs hissed back and forth as they cut through the air just above him, so close that he had to remind himself that those guys did not know he was there, just a few feet in front of them. They were too busy shooting at Druid in the bunker. "I'm out of ammo!" he heard one of the attackers say, and soon caught sight of one of the assault team guys leaving the field, then figured this was probably good of a time as any to do something. Creeping further out along the ditch, Maj.D.Saster was attempting to get around the flank of the assault team while they were focused on shooting it out with Druid. Meanwhile, coming up the road from the bivouac area was Brain. He was on his way back to the game after gun trouble had forced him to disengage from the battle, when he encountered the assault team player that had run out of ammo. Knowing that you need every gun on your team for an assault to be successful Brain did what any good Sarge would do, he gave the guy some ammo! Now they would come in as a two-man squad, which from a tactical point of view was much better than coming in as an individual sniper! As the two-man assault team advanced towards the battle-zone they spotted a figure at the end of ditch. Brain halted and cried out; "Hey! That's Maj.D.Saster!" As Maj.D.Saster brought his gun around to shoot, Brain and his wingman opened fire at the same time. They had caught D.Saster out in open at the end of the ditch and there was not much in the way of defendable cover he could reach in a hurry. The whole action lasted only a few seconds and feeling several sharp impacts, Maj.D called himself out. From his vantage point in the bunker, Druid had observed the entire action as Brain's adhoc rifle squad eliminated Maj.D.Saster and knew he was now holding the fort on his own. But there was only one of him and at least four of them, so it was just a matter of time for the assault team to finish him off and end the game |
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