Upstarts AAR

[ClaytoniousRex]

AAR from the Sunday, Oct. 15 practice match

This is the AAR from Water's perspective. Some of you Blood guys might want to lay out how things looked from your end. Unfortunately, my screenshots are all corrupted! :mad: Will get a good set on the next match, though!

Game 1: Sea Cliffs

Deployment

Water was tasked with seizing the research station at the crossroads. Our plan was to standoff and attrit the enemy before advancing on the objective. We wanted to whittle away their forces, especially any heavy units, while not yet using any of ours. The hope was that in the final advance they would be outgunned when we attacked with heavy units. We would seize the objective with MBT's and then deploy defenses in case of a counterattack, though we knew there would probably not be enough time for one. And all of that is almost what happened...

We deployed like this:

We had two drop zones. The eastern one was an impromptu firebase: a handful of Thor heavy mortars supported by an EWV for point defense in case of counterbattery fire. From here we would pound the objective into rubble and then use this same point as a staging area for the advance. We initially deployed an ATGM launcher here, too, but eventually realized that another mortar tube was a better choice.

Sabot3 correctly pointed out that the high ridge to the northwest would threaten our flank when the time to advance came. So he and Poesel setup the western drop zone. They were to land light attack/recon vehicles here and move north and east up onto the ridge in order to secure our advancing force's left flank. This meant two fewer mortars for the firebase which is a painful loss (to punch through enemy point defense you need all the mortars you can get), but in the end it proved that Sabot and Poesel were exactly right to do this (and without them our entire advance would have stalled).

The deployment phase ticked to zero...

The Wrath of God

When the deployment timer hit zero the sky was split by the sonic booms of all of Water’s dropships landing on the two DZ’s simultaneously. Our landing was unopposed and our first glimpse of the field confirmed our hopes: the enemy was deployed pretty conventionally with several units clustered onto the objective itself. This was exactly what we wanted to see.

Nexus and I immediately went to work setting up the firebase. Within only a minute or so we had a line of Thor heavy mortars deployed with the EWV tucked safely behind them. The firebase went to work with the constant chug, chug , chug of outgoing rounds toward the objective.

Initial results were heartening. The objective was clotted with dust and flying rocks and plumes of dark smoke rising into the air were a testament to our first few kills. It appeared that the enemy had at least deployed one EWV as we could see the airbursts from some of our rounds that weren’t making through. But we had enough tubes firing that this small amount of point defense wasn’t enough to stop us: not only were enemy vehicles on the objective dying in the barrage, but dropships trying to extract them were being torn apart, too. Doubtless the enemy commander at this point was cursing his bots for even trying to extract and quickly issuing orders but we were happy to get what we could while it lasted. This was exactly what we had hoped to see. We maintained good discipline and kept up the fire without advancing toward the objective.

Meanwhile, Sabot and Poesel headed up onto the ridge to the west. It wasn’t long before Sabot’s initial assessment was confirmed: the enemy was not only up there but had deployed defenses to meet us there. Sabot and Poesel began their slog up the cliffs, destroying enemy deployables and vehicles as they advanced.

Quagmire

Unfortunately, the enemy weren’t just competent: they were good. Amidst the initial chaos of our barrage, even as the shells were scoring kills and shaking the ground, they were able to somehow bring up replacement EWV’s into the cauldron, eventually getting at least two of them in place. Within a couple of minutes, they had stopped the bleeding and were very effectively batting away our incoming artillery rounds. Our reaction time to this development was slow; eventually, we brought in a Viper for a dangerous but effective recon of the enemy objective and it confirmed what we by now suspected: the enemy had brought up enough point defense to make our barrage ineffective. Due to the unique nature of the terrain, where we were deployed in low ground on the beaches and they on a high plateau at the station, we had no good way of bringing those EWV’s under direct fire (normally a couple of ion beams would shred them up and the barrage would continue apace, but here that wasn’t an option). At this point, we had successfully caused some of the early attrition that we had wanted and the objective was now manned by at least two EWV’s. This would have been the perfect moment to begin our advance and overwhelm those lighter enemy units on the objective, exactly as we had planned to do.

But we delayed, trying instead for another couple of minutes to get some artillery through the net. I believe that this delay was the deciding error of the game. I was in contact with Poesel and Sabot on the ridge, hoping they could angle in from the northwest to take those EWV’s under direct fire. Nexus used a Hurricane to try to angle some artillery in from the southeast of the objective. These were wasted minutes that should have been spent on the advance.

Ride of the Valkyries

At last we got our butts in gear and began the advance in earnest. Poesel and Sabot were still skirmishing on the ridge as Nexus and I gathered up a force of Thor MBT’s supported by a single Hermes at the original firebase. At last, we were rolling northeast toward the objective:

Defenders at the objective were powerless to stop the advance of our heavies at such a long range, but the enemy managed to throw two spinners at us.

First, they appeared in an excellent hull down position on the high ridge to the left of our advancing forces: exactly as Sabot had warned that they would. A MBT on that ridge began firing into the soft flanks of our advancing force. Were it not for Sabot’s foresight our advanced would have stalled right here as our only option would have been to stop to turn and face this flanking threat. Thankfully, Sabot was already on the ridge, behind this ambushing enemy unit, and was able to engage him from the rear and blow his turret to pieces in short order. Our advance continued.

About halfway to the objective, I noticed a quick movement down on the beach near our advancing force – just a sliver of something moving behind a low ridge, something very close to us. There wasn’t even a moment of doubt about what this could be. I took control of the lead MBT and immediately toggled to the 20mm coaxial gun: Jung was doing one of his notorious frontal Hermes harassments. These are often very effective at causing chaos and breaking up an orderly advance like ours. In this case we were quite ready for him, though, and as soon as he crested the terrain we took him under 20mm and 120mm fire and made short work of him.

Our advance of MBT’s continued apace toward the objective. Large caliber rounds whanged and zinged off of our frontal armor as we covered the beaches toward the research station. The defenders had tanks deployed in excellent hull down positions on the objective but just as we had hoped, only one of them was a heavy MBT. The others were Apollos and still some EWV’s remained on guard behind them.

By this time Sabot and Poesel had worked their way completely around the enemy. Unable to traverse the massive cliffs, Poesel had come completely around to their eastern flank, helping to draw their fire away from our main advancing force.

Mano a Mano

With only a few minutes remaining, we finally closed in on the objective. I led a platoon of bots in MBT’s frontally onto the objective as Nexus angled up onto to road to the west of the objective. This deployment was very effective since I was able to keep the enemy pinned to the front while Nexus crept closer for flank shots. Poesel continued harassment from their eastern flank, as well.

At last our tanks began to crest the final ridgeline up onto the research station’s plateau. Fighting was now brutal, fast, and close. Smoke, flames, and debris kept even our team mates out of view of each other. Our force was slightly heavier than theirs at this point, outgunning them by just enough to get a foothold and finally push into the objective itself.

But time was almost out. We had waited too long to advance. The enemy was on the ropes, fighting tooth and nail for every inch, but the clock was on his side. We were inevitably rolling onto the objective with the unstoppable motion of a glacier, but also with the speed of a glacier. We weren’t going to win.

In one final last ditch effort, I ordered all of our bots to drop directly on the objective as there was no time left for them to maneuver from afar. Alas, in the thick smoke of the pile of burning wreckage that was now the objective, I had failed to notice that the enemy had called down a Galaxy. Our reinforcements were slaughtered wholesale as wave after wave of burning dropships crashed all around the objective. I was even sitting on the objective in a MBT within a few hundred meters of the enemy Galaxy, but was unable to kill it fast enough to save our reinforcements.

At last time had run out, and Blood won the match.

[ October 15, 2006, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: ClaytoniousRex ]

[ClaytoniousRex]

And, sincerely, fun, fun games today, guys. Hats off to everybody who made it!

[ClaytoniousRex]

Should also mention, that one engagement with Jung that was mentioned aboved was definitely atypical. On those occasions where he and I were looking down the sights at one another, he spanked me like a misbehaving Nellie Ollsen on almost all of them. I'll think of some good excuses for that after I have some more coffee, though.

[Toby Haynes]

I should add that my advance up the western road was hampered by STONEWALL mashing my fuel system first with an EWV (which I eventually sent on it's way) and then with HEAT rounds from an Thor fired from a distance behind me. I was then further damaged by a 90mm turret that smashed up my left side - I'd not noticed it because it was sensor-jammed.

Then, just as thought I was about to break into the base, I got slaughtered by an unseen enemy. Another turret amongst the rocks escaped my notice and critcally pierced the battery compartment. Nice defensive positioning for those turrets made a huge difference - they were not easily seen and they had a great view of the side of my tank as it rolled passed.

Great fun.

[ThePhantom]

I have to say that was the best on-line battle(s) I've ever played. Claytonious, great AAR. Hearing the other side is very interesting. Jung, you made some great calls during the the game ..... In fact you saved our necks when we did the Cutter drops - Perfect timing.

Both sides were playing there hearts out - and I'm glad I was part of it. I can't wait until next Sunday. Even though - I'm sure the Developers are even more worried after todays showing.

I didn't do the After Action Report - I'm sorry, I didn't even think about it. Next time I will.

The first battle "Sea Cliffs" I lost my mortar position - Thanks to Poesel. That was upsetting because I was in a great position and was ready to really halt the Southwestern advance.

Second, "Down on the Bayou" I found out it's not wise to do my frontal assualt with the Thor 120mm by myself. Sometimes it works against the bots.... but, not against humans who are in great defensive positions.

Third, "The Black Canyon" Stonewall and myself (With JBY). Cleared the objective slowly but were able to clear the path for the great "Cutter Drops" at the end of the game.

It was a good "Live Fire" training day. Now, let's do Operation Upstart.

[Junglist]

All right, this is the way I saw it. First off, I'm a technical nincompoop, so there will be no screenshots from my perspective.

Game 1:

Deployment - I wish I could tell you. My machine was too busy caching Nexus beauty map to take part...before you ask I cache because I get annoying pauses in play if I don't, so it's a trade off. In this game and all following matches I was reliant upon my teammates to get things ready. To this I am in their debt (esp Stonewall), as things looked good when I finally joined the game - except jby and I realized right away we weren't adequately sorted to defend against the mortars the enemy was sure to field. A move that was to be expected - I've played Nexus enough times to know mortars would figure into it.

The Wrath of God - the sinner's perspective

Perhaps it was the initial phase of mortar strikes that lulled the enemy into there prolonged use, I'm not sure. Within a minute or two things had been stabilized and we were treated to an extended barrage of fireworks, with just enough mortars landing to keep it interesting. At this point our troops showed a great deal of cool under fire by not panicking, holding tight, and most importantly, staying in constant contact in regard to enemy location. Having a few Thor MBTs in reserve for the main thrust was my main concern at this point. Wait for it boys... the mortars will stop and then they will come!

The Glorious Quagmire

And then they didn't come. Stonewall (and Phantom I believe)had done a good job of keeping track of Poesel and Sabot up on the hills, but I wasn't sure where the main push would come from once the mortars had let up. My teammates had correctly assessed Poesel and Sabot to be a harassing force.

Ride of the Valkyries

A little while after Clay did a Viper fly-by I decided to take a freshly replenished hermes on a fact finding mission of my own. Low and behold, rolling through the dunes I saw several MBTs with Clay right at the lead. This was it! Time to get back home and jump and suit up my own Thor - but not before trying to take out a track or two on the lead tank - hehe - that one ended very badly indeed. But we know knew the basic trajectory the enemy was coming in, and were able to bring several 120s to bear on the enemy's front.

Mano a Mano

I was able to drop in a heavy thor (still had one left!?!) as things were getting messy - as usual my teammates had reacted well and were all well positioned to keep the enemy at arms length. With time ticking down it was clear that if we could survive the initial onslaught we would win. Some clutch shooting right near the end, along with jby's dedicated anti-aircraft action, and we were able to hold off their last ditched push....AND SAVE THE RESEARCH STATION FROM BEING USED FOR EVIL!

In this game, like the others today, I would have to say it was a lot of fun to play with a large group of people - esp. my teammates. Everyone helped to elevate the game to the next level in my eyes. Nice job everyone!

Feel free to correct me or add anything I missed.

[ May 29, 2008, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: Junglist ]

[Junglist]

I should mention that Iceman seemed to be having some issues around settings, and was with us on and off in the first game. In later games though he proved to be a most effective teammate, especially in the bayou, where his viper skills were a tremendous asset in deploying - we might have lost but it was fun!

[ClaytoniousRex]

AND SAVE THE RESEARCH STATION FROM BEING USED FOR EVIL!

Are you kidding? Your team is called BLOOD, after all. We were the "good guys" and today the forces of evil prevailed. God only knows what you guys are doing to innocent locals in that Research Station at this very moment.

*Shudder*

[__Yossarian0815[jby]]

Originally posted by Toby Haynes:

Nice defensive positioning for those turrets made a huge difference - they were not easily seen and they had a great view of the side of my tank as it rolled passed.

As the turret positioner I´m flattered, merci

Sea cliffs is the one level where the "new" turrets can be used to great effect due to those rocks where they are not only hard to see, but can fire at point blank range since the enemy can´t get into LOS without being very close due to the terrain.

[Mace]

Originally posted by ClaytoniousRex:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />AND SAVE THE RESEARCH STATION FROM BEING USED FOR EVIL!

Are you kidding? Your team is called BLOOD, after all. We were the "good guys" and today the forces of evil prevailed. God only knows what you guys are doing to innocent locals in that Research Station at this very moment.</font>

[Chilibird]

Originally posted by Junglist:

I should mention that Iceman seemed to be having some issues around settings, and was with us on and off in the first game. In later games though he proved to be a most effective teammate, especially in the bayou, where his viper skills were a tremendous asset in deploying - we might have lost but it was fun!

Heh, I'm glad I could help. It seems my viper skills did get a bit rusty over time, as I kept overshooting my target.

I'll probably spend some time in Single Player with a few hapless bots to practice my lift up and dust off techniques. Do we know what maps we're playing yet? (So I know what maps to practice on)

Though, that map was hard to do, since the target needed to be in an open field, instead of the trees. The boom was just a bit too short to pick up a tank in the trees, and if I dropped too low too fast, I'd quickly find myself on my back :\

Heh, still, though. I had a great time. It was a LOT more fun playing with so many people at once instead of just the few that seem to be the usual. Definately looking forward to kicking the dev's butts this sunday!

[poesel]

That was really great fun! Having mostly human opponents makes such a difference!

If we can make that day and time a regular event that would be great (though its a bit late for the aussies).

[__Yossarian0815[jby]]

Originally posted by Junglist:

especially in the bayou, where his viper skills were a tremendous asset in deploying - we might have lost but it was fun!

Arrgh don´t mention the bayou. At first I spawned a thor planning to do a fighting retreat. While Phantom was happily vaping the enemy I didn´t manage to hit a single enemy vehicle and then a 120mm round came from nowhere and put me out of my misery.

Next Poesel was annoying us with an ATGM Paladin, so I decided to land with some inf and give him a little surprise. Slowly I snuck up ro his paladin, when, just as I was getting into range, he drove off. So I followed Poesel across what seemed like half the map never being able to get near enough.

Finally, I decided to get some action waded into the water, only to notice that inf causes huge splashes like vehicles (pls fix, I´ve added it to the wishlist), So much for sneaking..., Sabots cutter then put an end to this inglorious attempt in assymetric warfare.

[aittam]

shame i got home too late

[Sabot3]

From Sabot3. Great games and great AARs! If I had flipped over on that ridgeline one more time while chasing ThePhantom or Schmelz I would have flung my monitor out the window :eek: I also ended up spending a lot of my time up there waltzing with Stonewall who continually appeared to pick the same drop areas as myself!

From my perspective the games brought out one major point and that is that one of the attacking players must be assigned responsibility for securing the Drop Zone or Assembly Area. Stonewall and others were continually dropping in and hitting us from the rear which can quickly devestate an attack or force the attackers to lose momentum as they must turn around and sort out the trouble behind them. I think that one player could handle the jobs of rear security (maintain jammers and AA turrets on and around the DZ), Mercury artillery support when required and possibly, depending on the pace, some additional mortar fire.

It was the most fun that I've had in Drop Team to date.

Sabot3

[Junglist]

Oops, I also meant to mention Schmelz, who joined up as the battle was progressing. Some of that clutch shooting I spoke of was definitely Schmelz' doing. Later, during the battle for Black Canyon, he was one of the noble defenders who held off the destruction of our base until just the right moment.

[Junglist]

Smeltz that is, sorry about getting your name wrong. I was copying Sabot3's spelling, so it's not my fault. (just kidding Sabot3)

[Smeltz]

No prob on the spelling. Sorry I got in late, but I had a blast. Having a server full of human players makes for some fantastic fighting. Everyone was puttin' up a great fight!

[Imperial Grunt]

I am sorry that I missed this!

[ClaytoniousRex]

I am sorry that I missed this!

So are we, Colonel! Some of your sneaky infantry tricks would have helped in the Black Canyon game for sure. Hopefully you can make it next weekend!

[Imperial Grunt]

Hmmm, tried to get online to play and the server was full already with 12/12 players....

Seems like I was a day late and a dollar short this Sunday.

[Imperial Grunt]

Hey it was great to get in on the action...

Remember the commander's intent.."KILL THEM ALL"

[Battlefront.com]

It was a nice surprise to see you in there slugging away! Glad I didn't frag you in the last game like I did to Clay. Sorry about that Clay

Steve

[Imperial Grunt]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

It was a nice surprise to see you in there slugging away! Glad I didn't frag you in the last game like I did to Clay. Sorry about that Clay

Steve

It was a good time. And I think we won a match or two....