Test

test test bananaboat

Modlist Update Inbound For April 25th 2014 :

New VOIP Mod

Next we are getting a new mod which will improve the Voice Communication in game via giving the ability to change your microphone volume in-game i.e. from whispering to shouting which changes the distance people in ACRE hear you. This mod also helps greatly with Adversarial/PVP missions which we will start playing before the official sessions. This mod is called Shacktac ACRE Volume (on PlayWithSix : @st_acre_volume ) and it PVP will change a lot when you can speak at different levels like this mod allows.

Recruitment & Other Info: 

ARMA 2 Massive Sale

Recently the ARMA 2 Free Servers have been shut down and because of this all of ARMA 2's DLC and Operation Arrowhead have gone on sale for £6.50 or so over on the ARMA 2 Store (which is for the Steam versions) linked here : https://store.bistudio.com/arma2-games so if you know ANYBODY who has an interest in playing ARMA 2 with us then link them to it! The sale is lasting until May 4th 2014 so there is still a long while before it goes off of sale, I myself might buy some gift copies so we have some left over for people to join.

Recruitment Message

Just a quick reminder, if you are planning or recruiting someone SHOW THEM a video of how we play and how our missions work. We do not want to recruit people and then have them leave because they do not like our play style. Also make sure you tell them our session times because otherwise we will just have deadweight that is un-needed.

Weekly Update #6

Friday Night Firefight  22/Mar/2014

With a record headcount and the introduction of a new map, this week's friday session was an absolute blast (literally). Our assignment for the night was designed by Khaos who'd devised a horribly unforgiving yet awesomely intense mission on our newest map, Sangin (made by ArmaHolic user SmokeDog3). The night's main event was completed with just under 50% casualties. Afterwards we embarked on a couple of prototype missions, all of which were unmitigated catastrophes.

---

Green Zone Gunfight

While the addition of a new map/mods caused a few delays getting started, we quickly realised it was a worthy endeavor as we geared up and set off toward our objective. This new 5x5km map was an enormous green zone with foliage dense as a fudge and countless fields intersected by rivers and dirt roads. Our platoon snaked toward the area of operations, everyone looking around into the thick green bush for a glimpse of our waiting enemy.

We had been warned about possible IEDs in the area, so our progress was halted occasionaly at the sight of anything even remotely suspicious. Eventually, our group came under fire near enough to the target compounds to begin our assault. Alpha squad spearheaded the attack and began clearing out the compounds ahead of Bravo. An epic series of firefights and flanking maneuvers continued until we were approached the last compound.

Our series of successes was cut brutally short just meters from the final hurdle when Alpha squad was all but wiped out. Our vigilance for IEDs failed to account for military grade anti personal mines and the lead squad paid the price when their leader, Sunburn, set off a POM-Z landmine. After Bravo watched Alpha be oblitered, they continued the mission and pressed on to victory, eventually locating and destroying the target objective.


Khaos, who built the mission and was killed early on this game had this to say:

"All around and over the past month or two of sessions, it was some of the best whole Platoon peformance I have seen which made the solo-spectating entertaining to watch."

---

Prototype Missions

Friday's large player turnout gave us the opportunity to test some new types of mission. First up was Sunburn's PVP maze. The unfinished version of the mission featured a complex and confusing maze constructed from sand barriers in which two teams entered from either end and swarmed toward eachother. Point blank confrontations and savage, CQC battles ensued quickly. The punishing speed and lack of learning curve was duley noted and the results from the test will be considered in the next iteration and future PVP missions.

The next game was something of Khaos' demented devising. Our 14 strong force was crammed into a headache inducing killhouse, choc full of tight coridoors and awkward bottlenecks. Like thick honey, we trickled through the course, plowing through the AI opposition. This clusterfuck taught us allot about CQC in ARMA... mainly that it doesn't work.

---

 Saturday Night Lead Exchange - Singin' Sangin' Songin'

With saturday sessions quickly becoming as popular as the Friday Night Firefight, our main mission builder, Khaos, reinvented his mission from the night before in the form of an even harsher, green zone slog straight through a minefield. Knowing we'd be up against more than just IEDs this time, we came well equipped with mine clearing devices and insisted on good spacing between all our units. Though as we plowed into the fray, we quickly found mines to be the least of our worries.

With similar numbers to the night before, VW was split up into two squads, each comprising of two teams. Entering the AO in humvees, we split up and began clearing the area, meeting and destroying pockets of enemies in fast, compound to compound battles. The thick green scrubland caused accurate firefights to turn into disorientating suppression battles. Comunications became vital and and constant, lingering fear of landmines slowed the teams until they became dangerously separated.

Reassembling the team after a series of chaotic run and gun fights, the squad found itself pushing up a riverbed toward the final objective. Our progress was halted when Edward was incinerated by a landmine triggered by an enemy RPG. After witnessing this, we decided to start deploying minefield clearance equipment. The humvees were awkwardly lost to the river, so our final attack was made on foot through the path cleared by the APOBS system.

Once we had completed our mission, a final enemy onslaught appeared in the form of a helicopter, raining bullets on us from the air. We responded in kind and a storm of lead from each and every member eventually pulled the final menace from the sky.

---

Across the two sessions on friday and saturday, we had more people joining the fray than ever before. With numbers like these, crafting big enough missions and getting members sorted with mods and maps will be challenging. Though for more fun like we had this weekend, we know it's certainly worth the effort.

Update Gap

Sorry there hasn't been a weekly update for a few weeks now. Finding time to write up the week's events every weekend is difficult, particularly now that the 'Saturday Night Lead Exchange' has now become a regular session. The update will return this week though, in time for what looks to be our biggest 'Friday Night Firefight' yet. In the mean time, enjoy this picture that sums up our most recent events.

Weekly Update #5

Friday Night Firefight  14/Feb/2014

Never has a Friday night session been plagued by so many technical issues. Storms sweeping across the UK were causing power outages and internet connection issues for many of our members. As people were helplessly disconnected during gear up, we decided that a second session would be hosted on Saturday. 

Those that managed to stay connected Friday night were there to enjoy an intense firefight that ended in a grueling massacre. Our first time running a session on a community built map, our skills were put to the test in brutal urban combat. The fight continued long enough to see the sun rise in game.

Things started badly, with the UK's weather causing relentless outages and network dropouts. Setting up teams was more a matter of figuring out who could stay connected than it was putting together effective fireteams. Once we were set, each team donned its own coloured chemlights and we boarded the CH-47 for transport to the AO. Our insertion didn't go to smoothly. Our enormous helicopter alerting the enemy to our presence.

There was a moment of familiar dread as the AI pilot we'd assigned to fly the Chinook nearly botched our insertion. Fortunately a repeat of previous events failed to happen and we all landed safely. Though no sooner had we established a secured position, the enemy had spotted us and we maneuvering to engage us. Their first offering, a lightly armored technical, was quickly dispatched before we proceeded toward the town. Our slightly degraded force snaked its way up the hill before filtering into the town.

Those fortunate enough to survive the connection issues started running out of luck as we poured into the town. Our teams split up to clear and secure buildings while the enemy swarmed around us. Grenades started flying from both sides as the enemy decided to employ RPGs at close range. The fight raged on as our numbers were cut down, sometimes several at a time until a few survivors were gathered together. As the sun began to rise, a lack of team leaders and diminished ammo reserves led the last few to attempt a desperate final stand. However a fumbled grenade and a flanking enemy soon put an end to that.

Weekly Update #6

Friday Night Firefight  7/Feb/2014

Due to unusually high fatality rates in both missions played during Friday's session, it is difficult to write an accurate report on proceedings. Suffice to say, we got fucked up.

The first mission was a stormy, weather ridden search and destroy operation in North Chernarus. The second mission was a Hollywood style assault on a town that had an armed WMD at its center.

---

First Mission - Paveway Bayou

Our first operation of the night had one simple objective. Locate and destroy 3 anti-air guns within the area of operations. In the dead of night, weather conditions were miserable with intense rain, thunderstorms and thick fog. After quickly gearing up under the shelter of some trees, our soggy squad set off on its mission.

Our slow and cautious approach came to a halt when an anti-air radar pylon was spotted through the fog. The adverse environmental conditions had started to break down the squad's cohesion by the time the enemy was in sight, so when the firefight started things quickly fell apart. With teams cut off from one another on either side of a big lake and enemy searchlights illuminating us from multiple angles, casualties quickly mounted until the squad withdrew and reformed. By this time, however, the enemy had flanked us.

Those that survived the initial carnage managed to continue the mission. One after the other, finding and destroying the anti-air guns. A horrifying lapse in tactical awareness saw 4 members cut down by a lethal hail of bullets cast by one of the AA emplacements before it too was destroyed. With majority losses, the mission was completed.

---

Second Mission - Armageddon

Our briefing set the stage for a typical movie style action scene. Somewhere in the center of a town was a scud missile truck, armed with what was unstated yet undoubtedly a nuclear warhead. Our mission was simple and time restricted. Assault the town, gain access to the scud truck and neutralize the WMD threat.

The squad's leader decided on a three way, 'trident' style attack with the squad breaking up into three teams to assault from different directions. After separating, each Humvee's approach was greeted with a scattering of bullets and RPGs. After arriving at their own assigned dismount points, the dispersed squad began its squeezing attack in toward the town's center where the target was housed. The isolated teams, lacking the firepower and support of a full squad, began to lose members as the fighting intensified toward the town's center.


The command unit rejoined with the remnants of Bravo and Charlie squad before making a final assault on the objective. After a hectic CQC scuffle, the scud truck was secured. When we realised defusing the bomb wasn't an option, brave team member, Death, volunteered to drive the truck out of the populated area while the rest of the squad secure and shelter in the town. About half a minute prior to detonation, Death was ordered to abandon the vehicle and seek cover himself. All his efforts, however, (including his attempt to find cover) proved futile as the WMD on board the scud truck turned out to be a nuclear bomb. Death was vaporized instantly while the rest of the team ran for their lives. The blast quickly leveled the town killing both those taking cover in buildings and the small group trying to escape via vehicle. There were no survivors.

---

Reflecting on the many failures that led to losses during Friday's session, not only helps us to understand where we need to improve, but also reminds us that even in this simulated world of war, we're really not very good soldiers. Neither the 3/4 mortality rate in the first mission, nor the complete destruction of a population center as well as the annihilation of our squad in the second mission are acceptable operational outcomes. Better luck next time chaps!

Weekly Update #3

Friday Night Firefight  31/Jan/2014

This friday's session saw our biggest turnout yet, with 3 new players joining the fray! Two full length missions ran the course of the night, the first mission having been built by Khaos while the second was Forest's dubiously awaited creation. After some delays getting started, the first mission went smoothly with only a couple of casualites. High on that success, we charged merrily into the second mission and all died.

---

First Mission - Fueled Fever

Around 40% of our missions are made by Khaos and while there are certain things we have come to expect from them (ie. an enemy QRF), they're generally nicely varied. This means knowing what to expect can be difficult. So with a full 15 man squad we geared up and set off on a search and destroy mission in an refinery complex.

Do to an unusual AI error, our approach to the AO was uninhibited and we were able to carefully arrange a tactical assault on the target. Queuing teams to enter, one after the other, we kicked off the action with some AT. Charlie element came into contact first and their AR ZanB unleashed a unholy torrent of lead on the unwitting enemy. Alpha and Bravo proceeded further into the compound before splitting up. Bravo then became entangled in a intense CQC fight as they pushed forward.

The intermittent firefight continued for a while as pockets of resistance were mopped up by the three separated fireteams. Bravo then found themselves clearing a building choc full of hostiles while the rest of the squad regrouped in preparation to demolish the target. Satchels were planted on the target T34 tanks before the whole squad retreated to a safe distance. Having successfully destroyed the objective, the disorganized retreat was cut short by the arrival of an enemy tank. Though it was quickly dispatched by AT.


At the loss of Death to enemy fire and new recruit Aerolus to a careless teammate, the remaining squad successfully retreated to the humvees and completed the mission. While the action left a little more carnage to be desired, the true triumph was felt as our plus size squad finished its mission with minimal casualties. Squad leader, Wrath, had this to say about the group's performance:

To everybody’s credit, from the outset, the Terrain outside, and the confusing nature of the Nango Factory Complex made the relatively simple mission objective that much harder, due to lack of reconnaissance capability and a vast array of sectors to cover. Each team showed initiative in some areas, and marksmanship and weight of fire was impressive whenever contact erupted. However, teams performed poorly at keeping sectors covered, moving quickly and under covering fire, keeping command informed of their position and orientation and minding their dispersion. Though it was a good effort by everybody, and a mission success, for future missions, each and every player must make sure that he is fulfilling his roles within the fireteam, watching his sectors, communicating with his team, moving quickly and with purpose and ensuring that no man is ever caught in open ground without support. However, the mission was a blast and as usual it was a pleasure playing with everybody.

---

Second Mission - Ben's Mission

Those who know Forest personally have good reason to be apprehensive about the idea of him building anything designed to be enjoyed in any way by others. For a while now, we've been awaiting 'his mission'. Expecting either an ill conceived sniper shootout or a aircraft packed clusterfuck. As we settled into the mission brief, the mention of an airborne insertion caused us to fear the latter...

Our 13 man squad was flown to the LZ in a Black Hawk piloted by Khaos with Forest on the door gun. We were dumped a little further from the AO than we would have liked, but nonetheless we proceeded on foot toward a hill that was between us and an unknown enemy force. On our way, the familiar purr of the Black Hawk's minigun growled in the sky above us. Previous missions with CAS gave us concerns that we were about to walk into a mass grave of enemies and our ground team have nothing to do. This was not the case.

Moments before we crested the hill, our Black Hawk was shot out of the sky. Deciding to complete our objective in the town ahead before going to rescue the crew, the ground force proceeded over the hill. Almost immediately, people started dying. Within minutes, the squad leader was killed and moments later Charlie team was cut of by a flanking enemy. AT weapons started deploying all directions, destroying everything except the enemy. As our casualties mounted, the teams started blurring to form a last stand. All the while, the Black Hawk crew had left their wrecked helicopter and proceeded into town where they mounted their own assault on the objective. While the countless enemy infantry were doing a fine job of cutting us down, a hostile Hind gunship rolled in to finish us off.

Half the squad had already been wiped out before the enemy air support arrived. Survivors scattered as the gunship onslaught picked off our remaining members. Amidst all the chaos, team member Ferret had managed to escape into the target town and hid in a building to avoid the gunship. From the spectator lobby, the rest of the group enjoyed the lone survivor's last bid for freedom as he jumped in numerous vehicles, trying to outrun the enemy Hind. It eventually caught him and the mission was concluded as complete failure.

---

A 15 player strong squad was a great turnout and despite early fears about communication issues, the session turned into a complete blast. Hopefully we'll have similar numbers next week!