Duty Calls
(Written by Steve "The_Boy" Hill)
Duty Calls, November 2nd 2008
My first game as a General: an analysis of the game, and my experience of the lead up and game itself.
In July 08, shortly after the Kelly's Heroes game, GOoch asked me if I would like to be a General for 360FireTeam’s Duty Calls game. I was taken aback at first, not sure if it was something I could do. It is a daunting feeling to lead a lot of experienced players, and the players who have filled those shoes before made it seem so easy, I didn’t know where to start. But what was there to lose? It was a fantastic opportunity and one not to pass up, especially with the offer from such a respected and established team as 360.
Those supporting me would be Chris the Swede from Fury, Matty Smith from BZ, and Bootiegreg from Blackwater. It was good to know I would have the experience and support from other teams. Around August, the Deltacharlie website was launched, with just one teaser picture of a briefcase, Gooch’s handiwork had started it all rolling with just once simple picture. It then started to sink in: this was going to be one hell of a scenario! Over the following months, Funky made live their dedicated website, with restricted forums just for my side. This was something I have not seen before, where only players from my team could see our plans for the day.
During the 1940's Resistance game, I met Chris the Swede on the battlefield to get our heads together for Duty Calls. Even though 360FireTeam were keeping a tight hold on their plans for the scenario, we started to formulate our plans. Knowing I was inexperienced, I started to look at the other teams that were going to attend, and through the magic of the forum, facebook, msn and text, I started to bring together a good group of teams for the day.
October was when the lead up to the game really started. Funky ran Call of Duty nights on the Xbox360, with intel for the day to be won. This was another new thing that brought more realism to the scenario; the game was weeks away but players now had something to do in the lead up to it. The Xbox games were great fun. We would have an hour of point scoring on deathmatch, something which 360FireTeam later factored into the actual day, showing the thought that had gone into this game. All of the pre-game activities linked into the day to make the whole experience more complete.
The Friday before the game, due to unforeseen circumstances Bootiegreg could not play, so I found a very capable substitute in Ryan from Tippmann Scotland. With their experience and status in the scenario world, I felt I had another ace up my sleeve – and along the way I had also signed up NST and A Few Guid Men to 22 SAS, two more well known teams.
November 2nd Arrived. I was nervous!
Funky briefed the 8 generals on the plan for the day. Another new thing (360 were full of great new ideas) was being assigned Fribby as my advisor for the day. He would be my point of contact, and Stella King would be the advisor to Diablo, the General of the opposing team, the Chechnikiovian National Freedom Fighters (The Reds). He was supported by yet more experienced players, Asher from Postal, TripleCC from WWR, and Sheldy from Axis. All good guys and all great players. Having Fribby there was a godsend. 360FireTeam had still kept a lot of plans under wraps until the day, to add realism to the scenario. The day panned out like this: five minutes before each of the four game periods started, Fribby and Stella would hand out mission briefs to the Generals. It was up to us to then decide how we would play that mission.
I was thrown in at the deep end with the missions. Firstly, we were to recover drugs from the southern village, and secondly rescue a stranded USMC squad from the other side of the field, an urgent extra task to do. It was Chris the Swede’s role to secure the drugs, and we decided that Fury and NST should help do this. Ronin would go to the stranded squad with a few new players, and A Few Guid men and BZ would make contact with the enemy. All went to plan getting the drugs, we managed to recover 27 bags, which was soon buried under leaves back at base. But unfortunately, the CNFF had brought the fight to us, and with the combined force of the Convicts and the WWR, they were an awesome force that brought the game to a good old firefight. They dominated the field and forced us right back into our base.
We soon realised that the rescue of the USMC was just not going to happen; the field was dominated by the Reds. It was decided we would sit it out and make sure we kept hold of the drug bundles at all costs - and the cost was a lot of shots and respawns. Hats off to all on that first game, it was a bloodbath! (or paintbath?!?)
Second mission came up: defend the fort at check point Delta.
By now, the field had changed hands: we had pushed the Reds back, after a whole load of paint and a great battle for the fort. The game started and confusion crept in as to what we were defending. The plan was for BZ to primarily hold the fort, and then the remaining teams would circle round the netting field and flank from the left. What we didn’t anticipate was the fight that took place. We had pulled back too far, and now it was just another furious firefight for the fort. I don’t think I have seen such a battle in a long time. With the netting acting as the border for the scenario, it reminded me of the CQB you find in the bunker games - queue up have a go, get shot, and respawn! The battle carried on until lunchtime, changing hands many times, but ultimately I think the Reds had most of the territory.
Lunch time! I had a good chat with my nemesis for the day Diablo. It was heated - as we were stood next to the burger van! But great sportsmanship continued throughout the day between the opposing teams, as it had done all along on the forums and Xbox games.
Back to the game in the afternoon: Mission 3. We were to locate and secure a downed Chinese Embassy courier (in the form of Zamo, with a pistol).
We decided that Tippmann Scotland would cover the fort/border entrance to the field on our side, and A Few Guid Men and NST would go for the centre of the field to cut off the other team's push to the courier. Then Ronin, BZ, Fury and the rest of 22 SAS would make a run for the pilot, who we thought was in the village. Probably due to too much beer night before and the burgers at lunch, the CFNN beat us to the pilot and another firefight broke out in the village area. Despite our best efforts, we only made a little bit of ground towards the centre of the village, and just ran out of scoring time to get to the pilot, who was further away.
Mission 4: secure and de-arm the missile that the CNFF had armed. The briefcase that was used to arm the missiles was the very one from the teaser website all those months ago. Hats off to 360 for the attention to detail!
This turned out to be a good old war of territory. The Reds had well secured the missile silo, and had their respawn flag inside it. Bugger! Full on pushes, flanks, charges, smokes, you name it we gave it. But they were well dug in and not coming out. It was again a good thick firefight, and our priority was taking out the flag carrier from inside. At one point we were so close to getting in there, but again the time got the better of us, and paint and air ran low. Daylight was falling and it just didn’t happen for us. The Reds had defended all too well!
So there it was, The CFNN had won the day.
It was close I was told, about 4250 to 4700 points in the end. Congratulations to Diablo, it was a great day and an honour to fight against him. I collected my 2nd place trophy and a kick in the nuts from fellow Ronin teammate Pariah. All was good: Duty Calls had delivered, from start to finsh.
On the trip home I reflected on the experience of being a General - and all I can say is that it’s bloody hard work! A lot of thinking on your feet and to be honest, a lot of stress when things go wrong - when you just cannot get your team where you want to be and you know the other team is scoring points towards the objective. A lot of thought is needed. A mental image of where players are, and a contingency plan for players on your team that are there for the fun rather than the scenario. Would I do it again? I’d jump at the chance! It was so much fun. Although if I didn’t have the help of Chris, Matty and Ryan, I don't think I could have done it. It’s a job that does require trust and team working, with your own team and with players from other teams. I felt you needed to work with them as a unit, and the help I had was welcomed all day.
It was a great honour to be picked, even more so because it was the last scenario of the season, and run by 360FireTeam. The Boy’s recommendation : if you ever get asked to lead, do it. It’s a great experience and if it all goes wrong it doesn’t really matter as the next scenario is different. It’s that about the current Scenario direction that I love, and I cannot wait for the 2009 Season.
See you on the battlefield.
Duty Calls, November 2nd 2008
My first game as a General: an analysis of the game, and my experience of the lead up and game itself.
In July 08, shortly after the Kelly's Heroes game, GOoch asked me if I would like to be a General for 360FireTeam’s Duty Calls game. I was taken aback at first, not sure if it was something I could do. It is a daunting feeling to lead a lot of experienced players, and the players who have filled those shoes before made it seem so easy, I didn’t know where to start. But what was there to lose? It was a fantastic opportunity and one not to pass up, especially with the offer from such a respected and established team as 360.
Those supporting me would be Chris the Swede from Fury, Matty Smith from BZ, and Bootiegreg from Blackwater. It was good to know I would have the experience and support from other teams. Around August, the Deltacharlie website was launched, with just one teaser picture of a briefcase, Gooch’s handiwork had started it all rolling with just once simple picture. It then started to sink in: this was going to be one hell of a scenario! Over the following months, Funky made live their dedicated website, with restricted forums just for my side. This was something I have not seen before, where only players from my team could see our plans for the day.
During the 1940's Resistance game, I met Chris the Swede on the battlefield to get our heads together for Duty Calls. Even though 360FireTeam were keeping a tight hold on their plans for the scenario, we started to formulate our plans. Knowing I was inexperienced, I started to look at the other teams that were going to attend, and through the magic of the forum, facebook, msn and text, I started to bring together a good group of teams for the day.
October was when the lead up to the game really started. Funky ran Call of Duty nights on the Xbox360, with intel for the day to be won. This was another new thing that brought more realism to the scenario; the game was weeks away but players now had something to do in the lead up to it. The Xbox games were great fun. We would have an hour of point scoring on deathmatch, something which 360FireTeam later factored into the actual day, showing the thought that had gone into this game. All of the pre-game activities linked into the day to make the whole experience more complete.
The Friday before the game, due to unforeseen circumstances Bootiegreg could not play, so I found a very capable substitute in Ryan from Tippmann Scotland. With their experience and status in the scenario world, I felt I had another ace up my sleeve – and along the way I had also signed up NST and A Few Guid Men to 22 SAS, two more well known teams.
November 2nd Arrived. I was nervous!
Funky briefed the 8 generals on the plan for the day. Another new thing (360 were full of great new ideas) was being assigned Fribby as my advisor for the day. He would be my point of contact, and Stella King would be the advisor to Diablo, the General of the opposing team, the Chechnikiovian National Freedom Fighters (The Reds). He was supported by yet more experienced players, Asher from Postal, TripleCC from WWR, and Sheldy from Axis. All good guys and all great players. Having Fribby there was a godsend. 360FireTeam had still kept a lot of plans under wraps until the day, to add realism to the scenario. The day panned out like this: five minutes before each of the four game periods started, Fribby and Stella would hand out mission briefs to the Generals. It was up to us to then decide how we would play that mission.
I was thrown in at the deep end with the missions. Firstly, we were to recover drugs from the southern village, and secondly rescue a stranded USMC squad from the other side of the field, an urgent extra task to do. It was Chris the Swede’s role to secure the drugs, and we decided that Fury and NST should help do this. Ronin would go to the stranded squad with a few new players, and A Few Guid men and BZ would make contact with the enemy. All went to plan getting the drugs, we managed to recover 27 bags, which was soon buried under leaves back at base. But unfortunately, the CNFF had brought the fight to us, and with the combined force of the Convicts and the WWR, they were an awesome force that brought the game to a good old firefight. They dominated the field and forced us right back into our base.
We soon realised that the rescue of the USMC was just not going to happen; the field was dominated by the Reds. It was decided we would sit it out and make sure we kept hold of the drug bundles at all costs - and the cost was a lot of shots and respawns. Hats off to all on that first game, it was a bloodbath! (or paintbath?!?)
Second mission came up: defend the fort at check point Delta.
By now, the field had changed hands: we had pushed the Reds back, after a whole load of paint and a great battle for the fort. The game started and confusion crept in as to what we were defending. The plan was for BZ to primarily hold the fort, and then the remaining teams would circle round the netting field and flank from the left. What we didn’t anticipate was the fight that took place. We had pulled back too far, and now it was just another furious firefight for the fort. I don’t think I have seen such a battle in a long time. With the netting acting as the border for the scenario, it reminded me of the CQB you find in the bunker games - queue up have a go, get shot, and respawn! The battle carried on until lunchtime, changing hands many times, but ultimately I think the Reds had most of the territory.
Lunch time! I had a good chat with my nemesis for the day Diablo. It was heated - as we were stood next to the burger van! But great sportsmanship continued throughout the day between the opposing teams, as it had done all along on the forums and Xbox games.
Back to the game in the afternoon: Mission 3. We were to locate and secure a downed Chinese Embassy courier (in the form of Zamo, with a pistol).
We decided that Tippmann Scotland would cover the fort/border entrance to the field on our side, and A Few Guid Men and NST would go for the centre of the field to cut off the other team's push to the courier. Then Ronin, BZ, Fury and the rest of 22 SAS would make a run for the pilot, who we thought was in the village. Probably due to too much beer night before and the burgers at lunch, the CFNN beat us to the pilot and another firefight broke out in the village area. Despite our best efforts, we only made a little bit of ground towards the centre of the village, and just ran out of scoring time to get to the pilot, who was further away.
Mission 4: secure and de-arm the missile that the CNFF had armed. The briefcase that was used to arm the missiles was the very one from the teaser website all those months ago. Hats off to 360 for the attention to detail!
This turned out to be a good old war of territory. The Reds had well secured the missile silo, and had their respawn flag inside it. Bugger! Full on pushes, flanks, charges, smokes, you name it we gave it. But they were well dug in and not coming out. It was again a good thick firefight, and our priority was taking out the flag carrier from inside. At one point we were so close to getting in there, but again the time got the better of us, and paint and air ran low. Daylight was falling and it just didn’t happen for us. The Reds had defended all too well!
So there it was, The CFNN had won the day.
It was close I was told, about 4250 to 4700 points in the end. Congratulations to Diablo, it was a great day and an honour to fight against him. I collected my 2nd place trophy and a kick in the nuts from fellow Ronin teammate Pariah. All was good: Duty Calls had delivered, from start to finsh.
On the trip home I reflected on the experience of being a General - and all I can say is that it’s bloody hard work! A lot of thinking on your feet and to be honest, a lot of stress when things go wrong - when you just cannot get your team where you want to be and you know the other team is scoring points towards the objective. A lot of thought is needed. A mental image of where players are, and a contingency plan for players on your team that are there for the fun rather than the scenario. Would I do it again? I’d jump at the chance! It was so much fun. Although if I didn’t have the help of Chris, Matty and Ryan, I don't think I could have done it. It’s a job that does require trust and team working, with your own team and with players from other teams. I felt you needed to work with them as a unit, and the help I had was welcomed all day.
It was a great honour to be picked, even more so because it was the last scenario of the season, and run by 360FireTeam. The Boy’s recommendation : if you ever get asked to lead, do it. It’s a great experience and if it all goes wrong it doesn’t really matter as the next scenario is different. It’s that about the current Scenario direction that I love, and I cannot wait for the 2009 Season.
See you on the battlefield.
