Berget Forum

Duck and cover my ass. We where about 8 hiding in the bushes just over the road to the UN base. They had no idea we where there. Then a other teams starts pushing far north(of our posision) could not see them only hear their fire. The commander of UN I thin(could not see him), calls out "everyone on the mountain is dead", Because the GM did not see us hiding behind cover.

That just sucks. Just logically if you had drawn a circle from the target the UN base was closer to the centre of the blast then we where. They where not behind large bolder. That was my biggest low last Berget.

My suggestion have a instant dead if you run after the bang, and give the once in cover a 50% coin toss or paper scissor rock with the GM. The running ruins it for the people that stay in cover since mass death calls is the end result.

off topic but we had some fun with the "runners" in pol base. Had a GM that would hangout with our gang from time to time. So sometimes when he was leaving or coming from air strike, we called out "air strike" and you would see this large commotion in the Pol camp People dodging into the toilets and running away from the GM like headless chickens. Great fun! So wrong, but yet so right

We had possabuillity to order NATO-Airstrike, and they have many diffrent...
At that point i think we ordered our forth airstrike and a "TREE-CUTTER".
The GAMEMASTER shouted: -Everybody that´s still alive, are ded!

Question about our own troopers also got hit! Most of them were already shot...

Even if people start running when the GM quad comes, it still has the wanted effect: Pushing back the enemy troops. So tactically it makes little difference. (accept from the fact that some soldiers are still alive, scattered from their group) Right?
It is a difficult problem and I constantly try to fool you guys. (This year I will try to muffle the quad. )
Maybe I should use a bike...
Or ride an elk... they can be really quiet...

Would it be safe to launch the fireworks at an angle so they'd still explode above the target although you're not as close?

I would say no, to easy to hit players with them.
If you ask me, they are fireing them to close to players as is.

They still fire up, the only dangerous thing that can happen is the battery blowing up on the ground (happened in the rains of B8, it was... interesting to see), unless you go over the top on the 'angle it down a bit' part

I seem to remember some fireworks being fired at an angle during an air strike West of Janco at B9, but it could have been strong winds, too.
If it were tested and deemed safe enough, it might work better than launching from the middle of the crowd.

I fully agree on your thoughts Vinni. If after testing it seems safe, then it should be done that way. Better for the gameflow in my opinion too!

Personally i think the fireworks just dont bring anything to the game. We are better off without them as it incites the worst in players. Its like holding 1000€ in front of them and saying that if they take it and run 10 meters they can keep it...

It brings a bit of roleplay to the artillery strikes, though. Just a game master showing up and tagging people, saying 'artillery, you're dead' just doesn't sound as much fun. Except maybe if he would put up a very good scene, but that would get very tiring very fast.

Alternatively, You could equip the quads with giant boomboxes to just play a series of sound effects based on the type of strike.
It won't have the same thrill of actual explosions over the top of your head, but it's damn safe (unless it tips over and crushes someone) and will probably be cheaper in the long run.

vinni wrote:Would it be safe to launch the fireworks at an angle so they'd still explode above the target although you're not as close?

I remember the episode at Berget 8, where one of the fireworks boxes was knocked over and it fired straight into some bushes. A group of players advancing nearby were almost hit directly, it was pretty scary. I guess maybe the GM didn't put it up on a level surface, or one of the shots exploded in the chamber, knocking it over?
It could have been really dangerous, and I don't think anyone wants to risk getting 3rd degree burns at an airsoft game.
Setting up these fireworks boxes at an angle is just begging for something like this to happen again.
If it's just a slight angle, it won't have much of an effect anyway, and will only increase the time it takes for the GM to set it up.

I really like the fireworks as they are now though (as long as they're launched safely!), they add a lot of atmosphere to the game. The sound, the smoke and the smell - it can't really be replicated by anything else.
Gameplay wise, it's not perfect, but then nothing is. Maybe if the GM's gave people a better chance of surviving if they take cover than if they run at the sight of the quad?

Panzergraf wrote:I guess maybe the GM didn't put it up on a level surface, or one of the shots exploded in the chamber, knocking it over?

I think we might be talking about the same event, near the southern crossroads in the pooring rain? I was under the impression it went wrong due to an internal explosion caused by the shot not leaving the wet (and swollen) tube.

Anyways, if they were to be fired at an angle (I'm thinking something in the lines of a small, pre-made wooden platform) they should be done so safely, and well-tested. It's just an idea, it may work, it may not.

Panzergraf wrote:Maybe if the GM's gave people a better chance of surviving if they take cover than if they run at the sight of the quad?

Sounds perfectly reasonable.

I also like the fireworks. There is no better sign that you are in the right place at the right time then an air/artillery strike. The sound of the exploding fireworks, the brief illuminations of the forest and the knowledge that probably, 100m in there are massive amounts of enemy approaching your position. It's thrilling. It only sucks if you get taken out by the blast

I also think the GMs firing of the rockets are doing a good job, arriving preemptive and moving around, After two or three cries for wolf many get surprised when it actually is a strike.

Yeah. Nothing can replace those great atmospheric and tremendous effects that those fireworks have.
Sometimes the atv shows up and nothing happens... but everyone is scared like hell

Well, i can't think of a better way to deliver those explosives (except for the elk, they can REALLY be quiet... and scary when they suddenly stand in front of you ).

AAAAND just see it from another point of view:
The spotting of the ATV is like getting Intel from your HQ that the Fire-Radar just picked up an enemy firemission. It might be coming your way... or not.

Sgt._Shaw wrote:AAAAND just see it from another point of view:
The spotting of the ATV is like getting Intel from your HQ that the Fire-Radar just picked up an enemy firemission. It might be coming your way... or not.

... or hearing the high-pitched shriek of an incoming artillery shell anyway.

I also like artillery fire display the way it's run right now. The only downside I see is that currently GMs on ATVs are usually identified as "incoming artillery strike", whether they really bring the fireworks or just come to deliver the food to base, or new missions, or come to take pictures.

I know several people have already said that it adds to the thrill if you can't tell the difference between 'meals on wheels' and 'incoming artillery strike', yet I wonder if it could lessen the confusion if for example the driver of an 'artillery ATV' could wear a different warning vest or have a sign clearly marking him as artillery shot...

Frasse wrote:Even if people start running when the GM quad comes, it still has the wanted effect: Pushing back the enemy troops. So tactically it makes little difference. (accept from the fact that some soldiers are still alive, scattered from their group) Right?
It is a difficult problem and I constantly try to fool you guys. (This year I will try to muffle the quad. )
Maybe I should use a bike...
Or ride an elk... they can be really quiet...

So i promise, if I see you arriving on an elk, placing a firework and just move away (with the elk walking slowley backwards), I will volounteer, running for the rest of the Berget around, making the sound of an airstrike and throwing BB's at the "dead" players.