The Wild World of TB!

So I have heard about this 700+ player game for a few years now. Based on the Fulda Gap scenario of the late 80's with the Warsaw Pact invading NATO in Germany. Thunderstruck decided to attend this year and by all accounts had a lot of fun playing the event. But don't take my word for it, head over to The Catshack to take a read: http://www.catshackreports.com/2009/11/fulda-gap-aar/

Dale 'Furby' Ford was there as well covering the event for Shooting Hot, so expect some good coverage in the December issue I am being told.

Thunderstruck wound up bringing home a MVT award out of it, and we would like to thank all the commanders and teams who showed up to play the 900+ player game. Talk of returning next year in greater numbers is indeed in the works, as well as expanding our command role against the Warsaw Pact who hasn't lost an event yet, to include this one.

Congrats to them!

What is Fulda Gap? http://www.fuldagap.com/

This game was a highly anticipated game for a lot of people that frequent Sherwood Forest. Based on the comic Judge Dredd in the very popular 2000 AD comic series, this is the first installment of several games in the Dredd Universe. This one was entitled 'Origins' and was based on the serial of the same name that brought about the introduction of how the judges came to power in Mega-City One. Now while canon dictates all the roles to be men, there were quite a few women who stepped up to take leading roles in the event. Leading the judges as Chief Justice Charlotte Goodman was Peppermint Patty Schneider of In Contempt and filling out some of her role players was Gail "Trouble" Ferency, Barrie 'Nudi' Reid and Jess 'All Wound Up" Schneider. Taking the role of the President of the Unites States Robert Booth was Tim 'T' Erickson of Team WOW and filling out some of his role players were Jason "Beest" Clark, Brian "Boomer" Mitchum and Tim "Thespis" Fandrei. All in all about 165 players showed up for an awesome weekend with temperatures in the 70's and 80's during the day and the 50's at night.

Sherwood is known for several things and first and foremost of that is the castle that Joe Stayback has been building on for the last 7 years. I remember my first game at Sherwood when the Castle was just getting put down and to see it now makes me realize that the castle at Sherwood will be here long after I have stopped playing paintball. Another thing that Sherwood is known for is the great players and sportsmanship that goes on at the field. At the past few games there have been a few air issues but Joe fixed that by bringing in the guys from Paintball Indiana Inc and they did an awesome job with never less then a 4500 fill if you wanted it. There was a paint issue with the paint not wanting to break, but Viper was on the phone with Archon and they brought out new paint and people swapped it out with few issues. Because some people didn't get the memo or know that they could turn it back in, there were some unhappy people. But Viper and Joe came back at the end of the event to bring this out, bring your Judge Dredd Badge to the May game and you get $15.00 off your first case of paint. Now how is that for caring about the players and making sure that they are happy?

The sides while small were some of the better known teams of the area and with the smaller group of walk-ons allowed for a lot of hard play. Viper went over the rules and addendums at the player orientation. The extras for this game included an air-to-ground/air-to-air 'helo' that simulated the Lawmasters and ABC Robots that frequent the pages of the comic. They could only be used by Judges or Robots so those players with that on their cards had to wear their team side tape (red or blue) as well as a yellow arm band tape. Since the Judges wouldn't be caught dead out of uniform and it is hard to hide a robot, these made sense in the game world. Other extras included a walking tank and quite a few LAW's that are always a hallmark of Sherwood Forest.

The game started on Saturday right on time as Viper likes to do things and the teams surged towards the middle of the field. Several things to talk about with Viper's games. First and foremost, he uses atomic clocks for everything. Insertion clocks are atomic, he wears an atomic watch on his wrist, and the missions are called in via another clock. So the smart paintball players would go out and get atomic wrist watches so that they are always set to the same time as the game world. You can pick them up for around $30 bucks and they are always good. Most auto update but you can manually force one as well. This works really well for RTS but it works just as well for his scenario games as he likes to run his games by the clock. Another thing is that before each game segment, Viper gives the commanders their first missions to run. On Saturday, the first game segment, it is four missions and then on Saturday night and Sunday it is 2. They vary from segment to segment but almost always include a drop box or two for the sides to pick up.

Unlike some promoters out there, you start off with 5 MOS cards per side. A MOS card is your pilots, demolitions, engineers, medics and snipers. This is the knowledge card that grants the player the abilities of the OS (Occupational Specialty). The supply cards, which are bandage cards (medic), rebuild cards (engineer), C-4(demo), Fuel (pilot) and sniper shots (sniper) are all in the drop boxes. They are placed with 150 feet of the bases, but that doesn't mean that you need to take your time getting them as the other side has and does sometimes get the box that is meant to be for you. If that happens then they get extra supplies and your side gets less. And that can be the key to the game, believe it or not. This is also where you get the money you need to purchase specific things and for Intel updates.

But back to the game, both sides pushed the center field rather quickly as in this game there was a mission to clear a block of all enemies. As anyone who knows anything about Judge Dredd may be aware, there are huge blocks that people live on. They are named after famous people and people are very territorial about their blocks. However Judges and the Army alike would have to pacify the blocks by cleaning out the areas listed on the map and holding it clean for ten minutes. And this was probably one of the hardest missions in the game just based on sheer numbers of players. And that is part of the reason that the game was very much back and forth on Saturday. In most games at Sherwood, there are at least 300 or so people so that you can set up a skirmish line as a commander and hold defense at the fifty yard line. This was not to be the case with only 80 or so people on a side and with missions coming in every 15 minutes that called for 10 to 20 people to run them. As such, neither side prepared a good base security and spent most of Saturday trading base drops with Patty slightly coming out on top, although T's forces got his cookies first.

Several times during the day play, the Lawmasters or Robots took to the air. The kicker to these devices was the fact that they were only allowed 5 minutes of fuel time or they crashed. And they were expensive to buy back, so it behooved you not to let them crash. The White House side drew first blood with the robots going in the air and clearing the center of the field. The judges retaliated with Jason 'Sweeper' Schneider of In Contempt taking the first run on the Lawmasters to the castle. And then the battle sort of stalemated as both sides started running missions almost neck for neck. However before the final battle the judges had pulled to a 4 mission lead. One of the most memorable moment in the day time occurred when Judge Joseph Dredd (yours truly) walked up to a huge firefight and pulled his Lawgiver pistol and yell, "Good Morning Citizens, you are in violation of Penal code 56454, possession of deadly weapons in commission of a crime. Throw down your weapons and prepare to be judged." He then ran up to players asking them how they pled and pronounced the verdict of guilty and then passed the sentence of elimination by shooting them. This would be replayed later by the Dredd brothers, but we will get to that soon enough.

Dinner battle would be in the castle area over 5 slapsticks that split the 50 of both sides. The slapsticks push away from and towards the players and the deal is, that if the slapstick is away from you then it is going to be yours. The slapsticks are worth 5 points each so neither side is shut out of the battle even if all they get is one slapstick. The dinner battle was single elimination, 30 minute fight, meaning that when you got eliminated you were out. Whoever had control of the slapstick at the end got the points. The battle started off rather well for the judges who pushed the White House troops all over the field. However the red side (White House) did hold the castle which gave them the high ground and control of just about every slap stick save one for lane of fire purposes. The judges (blue side) pushed hard on the far tape line and even crossed the 50 and started to press hard on the red side. However the forces in the castle pulled back a little and pushed hard back eliminating most of the blue forces on that side. With less then 30 seconds left in the game the red side made a huge push and secured 3 of the 5 slapsticks leaving the judges with just 2.

Going into night time play is always a rush for some people and a dread for others. The night vision assets weren't split evenly and they really can't be all the time. Just because someone has night vision doesn't mean that they know how to use them. However the red side had a plan that they affection ally called 'Loud and Proud'. What it did was take several million candle watt Q-beams and pointed in different directions, they would make off making as much noise as they could with the intention of spotting the people trying to move up on them and shoot them. They saw some success with this tactic, but the question of how much didn't answered too much as most of the night vision assets were tasked with running missions with a few detailed for base assaults as the night wore on.

As it seemed to go in May, the night time base assaults took their toll and by 10:30 most of the red players were ready to bring the game down. Loud and Proud had provided some fruit but not enough to keep playing in the cold. The final mission was a take and hold at a spool in the field directly behind the castle and Judge Joseph Dredd got there first and got his mission started. About 5 minutes later up came the White House staff, with their lights and noise and they were going to start their mission. The ref went to get clarification and it was eventually determined that neither side got credit for the mission. The judges because Judge Dredd got barrel tagged with 5 minutes left of his mission while hiding in a stump right in front of the 'Loud and Proud' brigade and the White House because they started the mission so late because they couldn't take and hold it until they killed all the bad guys there first. And with that, the game wound down at 11:00 pm with the players heading to their respective camps and getting to bed.

Sunday broke, clear and cool and back to some awesome paintball weather. Once again both sides had clear block missions but in the night it seemed that the red side had lost most of their walk-on's (about 25 players) and so that took them down a bit in forces. For you guys that see the walk on's and want to help your side, why not talk to them and let them know that there are two days of game play and that they shouldn't shoot all their paint on Saturday. We lost maybe 5 players because someone on our side (cough, cough) took the time to let them know what was going to happen when they shot all their paint and left. There was also some speculation that after the night time base assaults the lead had moved up to around 8 missions, so while not unwinnable, it was going to be an uphill battle. However the red never quit, they never stopped playing as hard as they could and it showed.

Sunday also saw the emergence of both Dredd brothers as Judge Rico (Cody 'Hawk' Lawton) and Joseph Dredd (yours truly) pulled up outside the Congress building and ordered the Army to throw down their weapons and prepare to be judged. There is talk that the TV Show 'The Streets of Dan Francisco' even got footage of it (look for a you tube link soon). However in the end, Judge Rico Dredd's Lawmaster was hit and Judge Joseph Dredd was made to finish the judgment. Sunday saw the lead for the judges pull ahead even more as they red side was made to pick and choose the missions that they could run and the constant base assaults didn't help morale or numbers on the field. But there were some great robot runs from the Region Rats and they were returned by 1MG and Darksyde for the Judges.

At 12:30 there was a 30 minute stand down to prepare for final battle and then the players met back out at the castle. This would be an hour long battle with the first 30 minutes, single elimination and the final 30 minutes constant insertion that so many people are used to. The objective; the slapsticks as before and this would be determined by who had the skill and the paint to hold it. The battle see-sawed back and forth with some great runs by teams on both sides. In the end however, despite a huge rush before the bird banger, the judges secured and held all five slapsticks, thus securing the win.

The awards ceremony and prize drawings were held directly after the game with sponsors like Tippmann, Smart Parts, Python Paintball, Smokin Pants, and Archon giving up guns, loaders, masks and barrels. Then you had FreeBallin a vendor who comes out to Sherwood games and kicks in to the prize package quite a bit for the players. Viper and Joe thanked everyone who attended and Joe promised more work to be finished up before the May game. Viper announced that the May game would be the 2nd chapter in the Judge Dredd storyline that will encompass the next few games there. And then the commanders got up and gave out their awards and said their thank yous. Both commanders were full of class and smiles as the scores were read, and while someone had to lose, I must say that the red side did so with the kind of class that should be emulated by anyone on that side of the stick. I am looking forward to my next Sherwood game in May; you guys should come out and give it a try.

Score: Judges 593.25 - White House 350
Awards:

Judges - Commander Patty Schneider
Most Valuable Team - Thunderstruck
Most Valuable Player - Dave Cilio, Thunderstruck
Sportsmanship - 1st Mercenary Group
Most Formidable Opponent (MOFO) - Tim 'T' Erickson, Team WOW

White House - Commander Tim 'T' Erickson
Most Valuable Team - Region Rats
Most Valuable Player - Jason "Beest" Clark, Great Lakes Rangers
Sportsmanship - Frank 'Online' Sajdera, Region Rats
Most Formidable Opponent (MOFO) - Dave Cilio, Thunderstruck

For the first batch of pictures click here to take a look.

So there are some people out there none too happy about this game, and I don't understand why. At every scenario game that I have played the last few years, I have heard that I have taken advantage of newbies and of the game system and that I concetrate on breaking a team who doesn't know how to work together becuase they are thrown together by the promoter. So now here we are a game with 300 total players, invited by capable commanders and a promise that this will be a game like the old days.

It is no secret that scenario paintball has grown and it hasn't all been for the good. The small intense games are not really out there any more. No one travels anymore because they all a scenario game in their backyard. The talent pool has stagnated and is starting to die off. That much is the truth, and the cool thing about this event is that the promoter is able to bring this game about. Since most producers want more people beacause more people = more money.

Now this is an expensive game, right at $250 just to get in the door. But this isn't for the kids, this isnt for the weak at mind or heart, this is the game that puts all the goodies in play, the windows, the fire eascapes and more. Professional effects and enhanced missions and rules. That's right, some of the cool things you used to do or wanted to do can happen now because it a smaller game with experienced players. This to me is a dream, if people can make it. If not, then I hope that Viper does this at least once a year.

As for CTU, I will be playing the role of Jack Bauer, so I hope that the teams I have sent invites to can make it. If I didn't shoot me an email at tb@worldoftb.com, I will answer you back one way or the other. I am not commanding or on the command staff, but I am helping Hawk with his recruiting drive. This is going to be a blast.

Back in the day when articles and scenario paintball had real role players and what you did in the game affected the storyline. From the MXS game Tesla's Revenge held in 2000 in Colorado:

Scarabus looked out across the battlefield, and was angry for what he saw. He had not tasted defeat in a long time and it wasn't near as sweet as Victory. Watching as his legion began to regroup he thought back to the last 24 hours and to the things that had happened.

Saturday morning gleamed bright and the crisp wind was welcome before the coming battle. Scarabus turned to Miles and Kinfort, "So what will we do when we have finished them this time" he said. "Never count your chickens, Scarabus," Miles laughed. "I foresee victory, whether here and now or in future battles. But Scarabus, My sons need training. I give them to you for this battle, I want them to be groomed to take command of the Legion." Kinfort stated. Miles smiled and looked at Scarabus with a I told you so look on his face. Scarabus was enraged, Kinfort had promised him the Legion and that he would sit on the right hand side of him after this was all over. Those twins had screwed everything up. But he would train them as he was told to.

He moved into his Command Post and gathered his forces. Dividing them into Demolitions, Medics, Engineers, and Grunts. "The key to this battle is completing our missions, we will wipe them off the face of the planet as we know it. And then we shall celebrate before claiming our birthright in the West" Scarabus turned to Matt and Zack.."You 2 will stay with me for the battles you will learn the art of war and then tonight you two will get a taste of command." And then the game was afoot.

Scarabus watched as the battle waged back and forth at the Hydro Plant and the Fuel Dump, With what he had to work with he saw that this would indeed be where the majority of the battles would be fought. He saw his helicopters making it back form Missions and an Idea hit upon him. He went back to CP and saw that Kinfort had come into the battle. "About time you got here, we are completing missions but so are they. I thought you were going to disrupt them and keep them in the base. Where is this great power you say you have?" Scarabus sneered. "Careful, Spalding", Kinfort smiled "I made Scarabus and just as easily I can destroy him and you. Where is my Helicopter and my elite troops?" "Your helicopter is standing by, and Wolfpack Satan is here as well. They are dug in around the hydro plant and they control the fuel depot, it makes it hard for us to get to the other side of the field to gather intel and complete missions. So far we have held the high ground and there have been no attempts to get inside of our perimeter but I think that will change." Kinfort walked away and got into his personal helicopter, he loaded up his troops and took off. Scarabus turned and walked back towards the rim of the canyon, Maybe Miles was right, Maybe Kinfort needed to be dealt with.

The battles waged through out the day, back and forth. Teague was indeed a formidable opponent, but Scarabus didn't know how much was Amilius, already the Survivors had flown a helicopter towards his base, and his Legion had shot it down and killed everyone aboard, He had found a spy and was using him for disinformation back to the survivors. His spy was still deep undercover and Scarabus trusted him to go on running confusion and busting missions. Teague would be his to take out. And Miles wanted Amilius, Miles had brought some of the components to the Death Ray with him. They were still looking for others to fire it. The satellite tracking system showed him that his Legion had indeed pushed them out of the center of the field. He felt they were in good shape going into the final battle of the day. The final mission came in, They had to take and hold the Hydro plant for an hour. At the same time, the Survivors were making a huge push brought on by reinforcements. They had retaken the Fuel Depot and the Hydro Plant and were pushing up the hill. Scarabus picked up a Satchel Charge and strode towards his helicopter. "Matt, you are in charge until I get back," he yelled. "Where are you going?," Matt yelled. "To take care of some personal business," he smiled. On board the helicopter, Scarabus pulled back on the collective feeling the chopper respond to him. Off he went towards the mass of Survivors that were attempting to push into his base. As he flew over the fuel depot he saw Survivors rushing to follow him, they had seen it was the personal helicopter of Scarabus. Keep coming, little ones, Scarabus thought. He keyed the detonator on the Charge. they will get a surprise he thought. He circled the Hydro plant and the Fuel Depot, more and more Survivors gathered. He flew towards a group of them, as he neared the ground he saw them pushing hard to get to him. Yeah that's it he said Closer...closer and then he let go of the detonator. The Orange plume marked the shy in brilliant colors. Bodies and parts of bodies flew through the air. All in all he had killed over 35 with that blast right on the forward edge of the push that had been going against his base.

Scarabus walked into Command Post. "Wait a minute," Mat said. "We saw the helicopter go down and explode, how are you still here?" "Do you not know who your father is?," Laughed Scarabus. "How is the fight coming?" "They are making another push and they control the Hydro Plant." Zack Chimed in. "Scarabus with me,"Kinfort commanded as we walked up to the CP. Scarabus Walked out and Kinfort handed him a bag. "What's this for?," He asked. "Trick or Treating," Kinfort smiled "Trust me, Scarabus". So off they went handing candy to all the survivors who took it and continued to fight. There must be some illusion affecting them thought Scarabus as here are two of the most dangerous people and we are walking through their lines at will. They even gave Candy to Teague and Amilius, That clinches it thought Scarabus, Kinfort is indeed a powerful man. They made their way to the Hydro Plant and found it unguarded. "In you go, Scarabus and stay until the battle is won" and with that Kinfort was gone. Scarabus sat and watched and waited, when the battle was finished and the Survivors happy that they pushed out the Legion it was revealed to them the truth and that was the Legion had held the Hydro Plant and none other than Scarabus himself had sat in it.

After the meal, Scarabus stretched and called Matt and Zack over. "You two will command tonight," he said. "Divide it up and take turns accordingly, make sure you get missions complete." "What will you be doing?," asked Zack. "Whatever I wish young one," was the reply from Scarabus. That did it, he thought. They will run alone tonight, maybe the survivors will get in and take them out and solve all my problems. Scarabus then went onto the field and pulled out his knife. He would rule the night tonight and make people wish they had never heard of The Legion or Scarabus. After killing people single handed into most of the night, he heard Kinfort yelling. He walked over to where he was. "Those bastards will pay," he heard him say. "What's going on Master?" he asked. "The Survivors have angered me, do they not know how hard it is for me to keep an earthly body and they destroyed it with impunity as I was talking to them. So they will pay for the rest of the night. I will kill them until no one resists any longer." He walked over to Matt and Zack who had been ambushed but had lived. "There will be no quarter tonight," he said. "Do not stand down for any reason" and with that he walked into the darkness and then Hell was indeed loosed upon the mountain. Survivors started dying by the tens. Kinfort cut a swathe through their CP, so much so that Teague left the field and gave command to Amilius. Scarabus watched with interest as Amilius lead the Survivors. Kinfort came up with Miles, "Scarabus join us we shall destroy the survivors now". Scarabus went with them and indeed Kinfort did blow the base, and then he and Miles left. Scarabus went into the ruins and waited. He heard Amilius poking around, and he struck. He drove the knife deep into Amilius's Chest. He saw the look in his eyes and then he saw the life slip away. Scarabus walked out of the ruins dragging Amilius's corpse. He walked four feet before the survivors shot him. AS he sank down into the familiar pits he laughed, "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do."

In the morning, Scarabus came to. Feeling the wounds had healed, he stood. The battle was going in his way. Matt and Zack still lived but they had lost the base a couple of times in the night. "not to worry, guys," He said. "I am leaving you in charge, we must fire the Death Ray. Do we have the components?" "No not yet, but Dad is working on it," Matt said. "Good, let me know when we have them," and with that Scarabus walked away.

He spent the morning harassing the survivors every chance he could. He destroyed their command post four times and stole helicopters and Explosives. Every time they thought they were free he zoomed in again and again. He tried all he could to keep them from completing missions, he even killed the survivor in charge a couple of times. But as he was flying back into his base he saw something troubling. Another helicopter in bound. He was low on fuel so he landed. He got Matt and Zack out of harms way and watched as Amilius landed a helicopter right next to his CP. A firefight broke out with Kinfort leading the assault. But all of a sudden Amilius began to glow. Bullets bounced off of him as he walked towards the Death Ray. He placed a Satchel charge and walked away and the Death Ray took a huge hit as it exploded. Scarabus couldn't believe his eyes, all of his hard work gone. Amilius would pay, He climbed back into his helicopter and flew to where Amilius was and shot him out of the sky. He landed and all he could see was the anger in Kinfort's eyes. "I want this thing operational, if it doesn't work it is your head," He screamed at Scarabus. They had to find the Scientist who had rebuilt it to start with. "Ernest Maxwell, Bring him to me", yelled Scarabus to his Legion. Off they went questioning everyone they could find looking for him. "I have had enough of this," said Scarabus. "It ends now", he picked up two satchel Charges and Got back on his Helicopter. Kinfort climbed in with him, "I am going with you," he said "I have a score of my own to settle." They flew towards the survivor base and Scarabus looked back towards Kinfort. If that Ray doesn't get rebuilt will he really kill me thought Scarabus. But as they neared they saw Teague making a run from his base. "Now," yelled Scarabus and the charge went off. Blowing the base and killing most of Teague's troops around it. But Teague had gotten away. As Scarabus faded away he thought I will be back Teague, that's a promise.

Scarabus stepped back onto the field and heard that Ernest Maxwell had been found, not only that but that Miles had him working on the Death Ray. But the Twins had vanished and Miles had taken command in Scarabus's absence. Ernest powered up the ray and Scarabus watched with awe as the ray fired. "it is done," he said to Miles. "We have unleashed them". Miles cocked his head, "What do you mean?" "Don't play games with me, Miles and where are the twins?,"Scarabus asked. "They have been dealt with and what is your thoughts on that?" Miles waited for his answer. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," was the reply Scarabus gave him. "but we better pray that Kinfort doesn't find out about it, or there will literally be hell to pay." "Don't worry about Kinfort, his time is about at end, and then it will be our time to rule." Miles assured him. "The Final Battle is beginning so we had better get down there and put in a good appearance."

Scarabus saw Roger Kinfort and Cassandra Setting up his throne on the hill overlooking the battle ground. "you are not going into battle this time, Roger?," Scarabus asked. "I am sitting this one out, Scarabus. And where are my twins, Matt and Zack?" "I don't know," Scarabus lied. "I haven't seen them since this morning, they may have wondered off and gotten themselves captured by the Survivors."
"That I doubt that very much Scarabus, but there will be time to discuss that later. Lead my Legion to Victory" "According to Intel I have received the HAARP signaling device is located in the center guarded by Survivors, I want that device and I want it now!"

And with that the battle was joined, Scarabus saw the ebb and flow of the battle. First one side had control, then the other, but inevitably it was the Survivors who maintained the center. Scarabus had a idea, seizing a child he strode to the center and confronted JC Teague. "Teague, these are the people you try to save? The same people who in another life you massacred. Well You can have this one's blood on your hands as well." With that Scarabus put his weapon against the child's head and pulled the trigger. "No, You bastard!" yelled Teague as he ran forward at Scarabus. Scarabus stepped aside and ran back into his Legion. The gamble had not worked. The Survivors had not taken the bait, as a matter of fact it had seemed to further their resolve to defeat him and his legion. But what had Miles said, let them fire the HAARP, it is what we need to further our cause? He pulled his troops back and gathered them together, "We live to fight another day, My Legion, do not hang your head we shall prevail. Now back to the Mountain and gather resources for the march on to Atlantis." And with that Scarabus led the way. And in the background he swore he could hear hoof beats on the wind, but no he must be imagining things.