POL 320th Arty Feedback / After Action Report

Feedback and debriefings from Berget 9
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Waldo
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POL 320th Arty Feedback / After Action Report

Post by Waldo » 04 Jul 2011, 20:01

This year was the debut of our unit and as the 2IC I wanted to give a small feedback from my point of view. I won't get into detail what happend every day, but I will give some highlights :wink:

Unfortunately we where short on players, because some of our players from chzec republic were some kind of missing....

Day 1: It was awesome when we got our gun and fired some test shots. Real nice job from the BE guy who did our "Susie". After game on the first thing we encountered where comms problems. I was assigned the wrong radio frequency and wasn't able to establish a link with the HQ. The communication between our commander spin_t and the platoon leaders where also fucked up, but we managed to stay in contact. We fired some shots and moved into the next position. there we where orderd to fortify fire again and wait for en evac by cars of the 1st. After that we did a small recon mission untill game off and got some rest.

Day 2: We tried to flank the eastern roadblock, where half the unit came over the mountain, the other half took the cannon and the truck and came from the street. The infantry got stuck in a huge firefight and the Truck got pinned at the "Ambush Alley". After almost everybody of us got killed we got GM order to respawn at Gegasus plateau....which was in NAF controll at this moment, so we went back to the Base and waited for respawn. In the afternoon we tried again to get to the roadblock with the help of the 1st, but the attack got stuck in an ambush and we lost all of our men. In the evening we joined the attack on NAF base, which was awesome, but deadly again.

Day 3: First we went to the coffee plantations to fire some shots at the NAF. After that we moved to the old graveyard to fire at the UN. on our way back we got in an ambush at the eastern roadblock and our car got blown up by an AT-4 / BAVS grenade.
The most awesome action was starting 0030.we did a small recon mission with about 10 men to distract the UN and eventually steal some fuel for our truck. my squad had the order to distract the enemy, so that the other squad could fall in the back of the UN. In the end our squad were the only survivors so that we flanked the UN guerilla style and attacked them from behind their toilets. one of us got hit and after he got healed we vanished into the forrests. we thought that we could go further to get behind the UN, but suddenly we ended up behind the firm building in Janco. We had an awesome firefight with some black ops / firm guys which managed to capture me and sold me to some bandits, that grilled and ate me :D I bet I tasted horrible :P

Day 4: Last day we went berzerk and simply joined the attack on Janco. We where ambushed by a NAF platoon, which we totally anihilated :D When we finally got to Janco the attack was over, so some of us decided to join Tiger_1s bodyguards and join him on a attack on the western roadblock. This was pretty cool and we got some intense firefights. I got killed 20 minutes before game off by CSalinas. You were so lucky that we had our guns on safe :D


The idea of our unit was pretty cool, but our actions where too limited. our range was pretty limited (1km) so we were pretty much fixed to some firing points, like the coffee plantages and the easter roadblock. 500 meters more would be much better, so that we could have used other points at the map. Our car ( "The Helicopter II") was too small to transport us all effective. When we all travelled in the car and got out in fighting zone it looked like the sketch with the clowns and the tiny car.
We had too much spare time without any missions and when we got missions they often were impossible to solve, because we were too few. What I really missed was the real arty feeling. I allways wanted to get a firemission over my radio and help the poor guys at the front. The radios were also a huuuuuuuge problem. a lot of time I wasn't able to get any clear contact with HQ most of the time, which sucked.


Besides the flaws of the event it was pure awesomeness. I'm so proud of my company! You guys were awesome and i would really like to meet you again next year. Spin_t did a great job as commander and did all he could to provide us with missions. A lot of hails go out to the cadpaters. The raid with you was so unbeliveable awesome 8)
Thanks to the buddies of spin_t, Alex and Mike (I hope thats right...please don't be mad at me if im wrong :cry: ) for encouraging and supporting me in my role as coy commander. I will follow your advises. Thanks again.

In conclusion I only can say: See you all next year!
B9: Pol. 320th Arty - Coy Cmd
B10: 45th Mountaineer Sappers ("Sapperneers") - Wiley 2-2
B11-B13: Serving the country
B14: UPIR - Righteous Employee

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Post by Smokey » 05 Jul 2011, 11:56

I have to concur on pretty much everything here - all in all it was awesome to be part of the 320th - but due to limitations of the artillery rules, and lack of missions (solvable ones at least) our role as artillery got rather stunted. Especially the fact that we weren't given the opportunity to fire at specific coordinates but only tactical points and so forth made the artillery a bit less useful, as did the mentioned fact that we couldn't fire from a lot of positions and only over a quite limited range.

And Waldo: The attack-run on the UN base and Janco (which we only found out later that it was) really was truly epic :wink: One of my best experiences in airsoft - so awesome to surprise the clueless UN soldiers with an ambush from behind their crappers with a full squad 8) . Just bad luck that we didn't spot the windows and the MG placement on the backside of Janco Bank, hehe. And to the Firm guy who searched me - the one pocket you didn't bother to check after going through my snacks-pouch was where I kept my cash :wink:
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Berget 9 - Poldavian 320th Field Artillery

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Post by Buffel » 05 Jul 2011, 14:24

... I am really surprised Arty could not fire at coordinates. That reduces so much gameplay out of the arty role. Real shame, sorry to hear guys!
Strike 1 for wildlife: Cape Buffalo are said to have killed more big game hunters than any other animal :D

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Post by motorhead » 05 Jul 2011, 16:15

I'm actually frustrated on 320th's behalf. The failing repeater and bad COM logistics really messed up the game for us at HQ this time. There was no way I could compensate from the HQ and as mentioned in the logistics-thread I honestly think Berget failed big time in delivering a functional COM network for us.

I give Spin_T and Waldo BIG credits for making the best out of a hopeless COM situation. I really wanted you as an asset and looked forward to giving you fire missions, but instead I realized the Berget COM logistics had an epic failure - rendering the artillery unit at the mercy of other circumstances. Hope to play airsoft with you guys in the future!

What I learned is that Berget have no clue about setting up a functional radio network - despite repeaters being easily commercially available from www.409shop.com and www.radioshop888.com etc. Instead of providing their own solution they trusted a rented solution that has proven to fail on earlier events.

This boils down to simple lack of quality control and expertise and I hope this can be better next year. I actually had my baddest Berget ever of the four I've been to - since I was prepared to do the HQ role only. Needless to say - without proper long-range COM there won't be a good functioning HQ either.

This goes to show that COM logistics actually affect ingame roleplay and unit functionality - especially since this was the first time we had our own artillery unit.

Next year I'll bring my own 50w transceiver and repeater solution, but quite frankly, this should be a Berget-Events responsibility.
Motörhead, SBA, Norway
B6: NATO, Oscar COY, 3rd PLT, 3rd squad
B7: NATO S6 - smoke signal operator
B8: Pol. 3rd Mount. S6/Liaison - ditto
B9: Pol. 3rd Mount. Com dude - ditto
B10: On leave
B11: Hot Dog

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Post by Smokey » 05 Jul 2011, 17:53

Buffel wrote:... I am really surprised Arty could not fire at coordinates. That reduces so much gameplay out of the arty role. Real shame, sorry to hear guys!
Thanks for the sympathy - and yes, I was surprised as well, and was especially disappointed as we prepared for the game by learning the MGRS properly - only to be provided with low-resolution (and thereby useless) MGRS maps of the area, which we couldn't have used even if they had been better (since we couldn't fire at specific coordinates). I understand that's it's quite difficult to fire at specific coordinates within a reasonable amount of time, since a game-master has to actually get to said coordinates and light the fireworks before the strike is useless because the enemy has moved away, yet not having the capacity to fire at specific points renders the idea of a field artillery unit rather pointless.

Alternatively, a game-master continually following the Arty. forward observers to be able to do a strike when a position is identified - and the howitzer has been confirmed to have been fired by another game-master - is complicated, and would seriously hinder the observers to do their job stealthily and thereby effectively.

Furthermore, it would certainly have been nice to get some actual information on the operation and the in-game function of the artillery *before* game start, as we went into the game not knowing what to prepare for and what to expect, whether or not a GM would be attached to our unit permanently (as the Team section suggested, but which turned out not to be the case: "Special rules: Will have one Game-master for artillery strikes dedicated to this unit.") and how we would work with other units.

All in all it was a fun experiment to include an Artillery unit, but the concept definitely needs further improvement to be an effective part of the game.

Cheers - and though this was a lot of criticism, I have to point out that playing with the 320th was still a load of fun, both because and despite of our "Suzie" :wink:
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Post by spin_t » 05 Jul 2011, 20:40

If it will be an Arty unit in the future,the only solution for eliminate this yellow vests with fireworks is to have players in both sides as Berget trustees,who at some point to pop up from the rest of the soldiers and to anounce the casualities . Also,the same solution might work regarding ad-hoc chroning on the field if there r some complains or just for game survey. Everybody will behave when a yellow is there but when that guy could be any soldier in the field....you r cought bastard !
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B11 troop carrier betwen BRaven base and front line :)
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Post by Waldo » 05 Jul 2011, 21:30

1st Platoon! 2nd Platoon! C'mon guys! Post your feedback, so that we can have a better time with the Helicopter and Susie next year! (and eventually I will have a stable comms situation :P )
B9: Pol. 320th Arty - Coy Cmd
B10: 45th Mountaineer Sappers ("Sapperneers") - Wiley 2-2
B11-B13: Serving the country
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Post by motorhead » 07 Jul 2011, 18:05

Just some afterthoughts for Berget-Events to chew on:

320th Artillery would most likely have been better served being a mobile mortar unit with, say 4 mortars that could have been deployed at more flexible points near our own infantry units as they moved along in the game and needed fire missions. With the 1km range that would also be more "realistic" given the size of the average BE game area.

Given the lack of ingame roads in Härnösand there was preciously little they could do anyway in moving around. Think about it, a mortar team either firing from an open vehicle or deployed with our troops would be a far better game factor than an unwieldy howitzer with lack of roads to be dragged around on. Mortar teams can also use ATV's and lighter vehicles.

And they/you/we would be far better off with some dedicated Berget prepaid cell phones or SIM-cards to communicate with HQ and own units in need of fire support. Far better than the crappy UHF-repeaters, whose generators Berget-Events invariably forget to refuel and with far better audio :lol: :lol:
Motörhead, SBA, Norway
B6: NATO, Oscar COY, 3rd PLT, 3rd squad
B7: NATO S6 - smoke signal operator
B8: Pol. 3rd Mount. S6/Liaison - ditto
B9: Pol. 3rd Mount. Com dude - ditto
B10: On leave
B11: Hot Dog

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Post by spin_t » 07 Jul 2011, 23:06

Eh,we will see...maybe next year the scenario will make us suicide bombers and it will be more easy ,just scream and run towards the enemy !:))))
B 8 Poldavian 1-st Bat.
B 9 Poldavian 320th Art Comm
B10 Poldavian 15-th
B11 troop carrier betwen BRaven base and front line :)
B12 Raven Mech

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