GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Feedback and debriefings from Berget 13
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Parzi
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GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Parzi » 11 Jul 2015, 20:48

Salute!

Here is my point of view about Berget 13 as the commander of Para Inf. Sorry for the new topic but i dont want this to get lost in the other threads as i feel that every GCT player should be able to see and read this.

1. Preparations

We had almost 6 months time to prepare for the game. Straight from the beginning i saw that the game balance was pretty bad. I did make some suggestions to BE how to make the balance better. You cant just transfer people from one side to another so instead of that i made some ideas about how to tweak the game mechanics. It seems that most of my ideas were not implemented. One that i talked with BE the most was that ParaInf should be able to use "helos" aka BE trucks 24/7. Thats how we could fight against numbers as we could move swiftly around the game area. Berget crew did promise us 3-5 trucks to use. Another thing that BE told me was that they are going to make a border near our base wich prevents Ikaros from attacking our base with big force. The point of this by BE was that GCT could the focus in the fighting in the actually game area and not to focus defending the base. We were told that only small Ikaros recon detachments could cross the border and come near the base. This was good idea since it was supposed to free alot of troops from guarding to base to conduct actual missions.

Based on the BE promise about vehicles we planned the Para Inf SOP´s around it. We made plans that we would be doing fast drops to enemy territory and then extract as fast as we came in. This way we could be all around the game area causing trouble to the Ikaros even if we had fewer numbers. Our plan was to hit key targets, prevent respawning by cutting the supply lines and ambush enemy vehicles around the roads.

I choose my XO to be L4gi because i had worked on previous games with him and he is a guy that gets stuff done. Together with L4gi we recruitted Wormbyte and Obi-san to act as company commanders. When i see these names i can only think that we had the best leaders that one can imagine. We had good HQ personel in Para Inf and i cant imagine that it could have been better in any way. We did know about the balance issue way before the game but i gave a promise to BE and the players, the community that we will try, and we did.

There are no words to describe how thankful i am for the work that Wormbyte, Obi-san and L4gi put in to this game. Especially L4gi did probably hundreds of hours of work before the game and without him we would not have even made to the game. I want to thank you my officers for doing all the heavy work and i hope we will meet again, maybe i get the chance to work under you guys to pay my debts :oops:

One thing to mention is the whatsapp system that we used. Before the game we asked from BE that do we need to use radios or can we develope our own system and they gave us green light. We put up a TOC (Tactical Operations Centre) that had two commuincations officers and some laptops and internet connection. We made whatsapp group for the two companies in Para Inf and some joint channels where we invited key members from other GCT units. Overall the whatsapp system was success and i think it can be used in the future with little tweaks made in to it. I could talk alot more about the system but lets try to keep this short. Basically we had whatsapp in use from platoon leaders and above but comms inside platoons were done by radios.

Our original plan was to have ParaInf HQ inside one of our own tents and we would do all the planning from there. As the game time approached i reckonised the need for the whole GCT to have on commander to control it all. I talked about his with BE and their answer was that they dont want a player to run the whole faction, instead they placed a GM to do that. As we did not get permission to run the whole GCT we still decided to transfer the ParaInf HQ to a berget provided HQ tent so the players would have some visible place of command as there would have been none. Ofcourse the HQ tent was mostly manned by Para Inf officers and our top prioirity was to take care of our own unit but we also tried to help the other units as much as we could with the resources that we had.

2. Game time

When i arrived the game area and talked with GM´s i quickly learned that some of the BE trucks were broken and we could maybe have 3 of those as others are being repaired. GM´s also told me that we could only drop players with the trucks and not extract them wich was against all the pre-game promises. This decision by GM´s pretty much destroyed the mechanics of ParaInf and turned us to a regular infantry. The fact that we needed to do operations deep behind enemy lines but could not extract our troops made our life really hard. We could not move swiftly across the game area as planned so we lost our momentum right there before the game start. As we needed to walk back from every mission this made missions last longer than planned, players got more tired and they needed more R&R time. If we could have used the trucks on drop people and pickup them we could have hit so much more places and the game would have been more interesting to both sides but our wings we cut off just before game start. It was BE who told me this but it was me who had to tell about this to the players who had paid money to be ParaInf! I still feel ashamed because i feel that i let all my men down allready before the game start. It makes me really sad that i had to ruin the game for so many players.

Even with these sad news hitting the Para Inf the men still were in high morale and went on to missions that included alot of hiking. You guys should be proud of yourself as we managed to give the enemy few good fights!

As soon as the game started we learned that the border was a joke as red forces started to attack the base frequently with slightly larger force than one squad of recon troopers :wink:

3. Missions

This year BE did not give alot of missions during the game. They gave us OPORD´s before the game and we needed to execute the missions that were in the OPORD the duration of the game.

Our missions were 1. Locate and rescue 5 press personel that are held as hostages around the game area 2. Find demeter reasearch facility 3. Capture and hold CP´s

We quickly decided that we will focus on missions 1 and 2 and we only captured CP´s when needed to support other missions.

During the first night one of ParaInf recon units called "Jackpot" found the research facility, photographed all the stuff inside there and the outside as well. This info was relayed to the GM´s who told us that they will come back with new orders about the facility. We never heard about the GM´s or the research facility again.

During the game we managed to get hold of 2 press hostages.

I addition to these missions BE gave us order to attack Ikaros base on thursday to find press personel from there. Suicide mission but we still tried. Also we were give order to attack the village in friday and saturday. We executed these missions the best way we could but no success.

During the game there was lot of people coming in to the HQ to ask for missions. Ususally we gave something if we had. Sometimes we were so busy with the "Other stuff" so we had to turn people around and i am sorry about that.

4. The other stuff

There was alot of stuff the we as commanders needed to handle for the BE and it was bit confusing but we did it anyhow and you will learn why.

During the first night we had many many injuries as the rocks were wet and we were travelling by foot and avoiding the roads. I heard that there was 15 leg related injuries during the first nights and many others in the following days. HQ spent huge amount of time finding lost players and giving first aid to injured players. A big thanks goes to Gladio and his doctors who helped to treat injured players both red and blue! Also big thanks to those players who provided their own medical supplies to heal others!

During the game some players that were injured or had some other medical condition were treated at the main safe and then returned to the GCT camp. These players later came to the HQ and told us that we need to get them medicine. The players were told at the main safe that commanders can get you medicine when you need it. So we had to make calls to GM´s and the security to find this medicine for the players. I feel that this is something that BE should have handled BUT as these were situations that involved the health of players we had to act on them and figure it out later that who should have done and what.

Also the off game parking this year was disaster and BE delivered us a list of registration plates of vehicle that need to removed around the game area or they will be towed away. Again we spent time to do stuff for BE. They could have put one GM to do it instead of commanders?

5. End words

Yes the game balance was bad and our numbers were fewer. Yes it was chaotic in the GCT HQ. Yes we did fail in many thing in the HQ.

But one thing is for sure, we never gave up! We went on to missions, we fought the enemy and tried our best with the resources we had and that is all that commander can wish for! I want to thank all ParaInf and all GCT players for giving their best!

I personally feel that i let many players down specially the ParaInf. Some things were because of game mechanics and some just my own inability to organise stuff better. I want to thank the whole international airsoft community for all these great years and events! Even if we have had bad times i still think that Berget is something special, something unique in airsoft. I dont know what future brings but i do think that we players and BE crew need to think how the future games can be made better. BE has the responsibility about their own event but we, the community have our own too. I personally see that Berget has come to crossroad about what direction to take the event. I hope they listen the feedback from players to make this unique game even better!

- Parzi -
Berget 7 - SRP, SL
Berget 8 - Poldavia 1Inf, SL
Berget 9 - Zansian Black Ops, Command Squad
Berget 10 - Zansia Infantry Battalion Commander
Berget 11 - GCT SFODU Commander
Berget 12 - GCT Intelligence Unit Commander
Berget 13 - GCT Para Infantry Commander

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Parzi
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Parzi » 11 Jul 2015, 20:57

You can post questions to this thread or just send me a PM. I will try to answer as best as i can.
Berget 7 - SRP, SL
Berget 8 - Poldavia 1Inf, SL
Berget 9 - Zansian Black Ops, Command Squad
Berget 10 - Zansia Infantry Battalion Commander
Berget 11 - GCT SFODU Commander
Berget 12 - GCT Intelligence Unit Commander
Berget 13 - GCT Para Infantry Commander

Tasgeir
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Tasgeir » 13 Jul 2015, 19:54

Where was the GCT told that the boarder was? We on the red team got told be BE GM that the border was 20m EAST of the NORTH SOUTH road. And acording to that I know my mech unit never attaced your base, but hit you checkpoints setup unlawfully inside our country, as they were just of the road!

:cooltank:

M.Koho
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by M.Koho » 14 Jul 2015, 06:19

For us it was never specified but everyone thought it was the road.
Migog
Tiera Airsoft
B8: Poldavia
B9: The Firm/Zansia
B10: Zansia
B11: GCT - SFODU
B12: GCT - HVIU/Jonathan Goodwill
B13: GCT - Rangers
B14: NAF - RANCOM Janitor
B15: FINBAT - Recon Platoon
B16: UPIR - HQ/TOC
B17: GFM: Cobras

Helvetica
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Helvetica » 14 Jul 2015, 15:18

I want to thank you Parzi and all of your officers, for putting that much effort in the organisation of a working HQ. As a 1st inf. player, we were really happy about your work, especially, because there was not many of our own commander.

Reading your text here, i think it is BE that should be ashamed for letting people down in this situation and not you! You tried your best and yes, we had much fun! It doesent matter if we loose in the end as long as we have fun, find new friends, meet old friends and enjoy the Event!

Of course there are things that are frustrating and need to be told, but for us from SWISS-OPs it is for sure, that we will join the "blue side" again next year!

Thanks to all participants of Berget, for the fun! cu next year
B12 - GCT Border Police, Swiss-OPs
B13 - GCT Infantry, 3rd Platoon, Swiss-OPs
B14 - NAF Infantry, Echo 1, Swiss-OPs
B15 - UPIR Heavy Weapons and Demolition Unit, Swiss-OPs
B16 - NAF Infantry, Alpha-03, Swiss-OPs, Platoonleader
B17 - 110:th Special Investigation Unit, ACE MP
B18 - Cult Member

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Rythm
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Rythm » 14 Jul 2015, 15:30

I heard GCT (maybe not para?) got to choose wich base to live in, and opted for the one that was theirs in-game. Any truth to this rumour?
6mm.se

B9: UN - Platoon commander
B10: Zansian Black Guards - Platoon commander
B11: Ravens - Company commander/Intel officer
B12: Ravens - 2 in Command
B13: Ikaros - 2iC
B15: Mercs - 2iC
B17: GFM - 2iC
B18: GFM - 2iC

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Switchback
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by Switchback » 24 Jul 2015, 08:15

Rythm wrote:I heard GCT (maybe not para?) got to choose wich base to live in, and opted for the one that was theirs in-game. Any truth to this rumour?
I believe that was the Rangers.
B13: GCT 1st Infantry, Sappers and Engineers [Sierra 3]
B15: UPIR PsyOps
B16: NAF Mechanized [Golf 1]
B18: Wait and Find Out ;)

M.Koho
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Re: GCT Para Inf HQ debrief

Post by M.Koho » 24 Jul 2015, 16:33

Yeah Gladio, Ranger OiC, chose that we Rangers would have our main base at GCT base and a FOB at AO.
Migog
Tiera Airsoft
B8: Poldavia
B9: The Firm/Zansia
B10: Zansia
B11: GCT - SFODU
B12: GCT - HVIU/Jonathan Goodwill
B13: GCT - Rangers
B14: NAF - RANCOM Janitor
B15: FINBAT - Recon Platoon
B16: UPIR - HQ/TOC
B17: GFM: Cobras

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