So on Saturday the boys and I attended Force Recon’s Nightfall 2 18 hour mil sim at the Picton facility and it was great! Yes I play there often because it’s awesome, every time I go to a game at that place I have a good time. 😉 We signed up on the green team as we want to rock our Woodland more in 2013 and was under the command of Mckee & Arkell. Chris was in charge of 4th platoon and I was section lead (most sections had 8-11 players) to poppa while Jeremy was section lead for oscar. What I particularly enjoyed was that our sections were made up of GHOSTS members only, typically we’re split up by command as we’re experienced mil simmers but this time around we got to run together which was nice.

Force Recon introduced mortars and a new system this time around which added a new dynamic to the game. Basically both tan and green have a mortar about 200′ away from their CP which allowed the team leaders to call in mortar strikes and kill everyone in a certain area. A great idea as storming an entrenched position can be very difficult and each team only had a certain number of mortars so those rounds had to be spent wisely.

Anyway our job was simply to grab the tan mortar and to keep it, if it was lost we were to retake it. That meant that most of our game play was focused outdoors which at first seemed odd because the appeal of Picton is its indoor action but I understood the mortar was a very valuable objective and since I wasn’t in any real command position, I wasn’t about to question my orders. The training we did last week really paid off and we were definitely a well coordinated unit.

At game start, we secured our mortar, poppa provided security while oscar helped set up Q’s mini gun in a solid defensive position which was then reinforced with whatever we could find on the field. After that was set, another platoon secured the southern part of the complex which allowed us to move and attack the tan mortar. We went around the Northern side of the village (as the direct route would leave us open to fire on two sides) capturing both the East & West villages along the way. Poppa & oscar got bogged down around 75′ away from the tan mortar because there was very little cover between the tree line and the objective, that and the tan team was dug in very well. After fighting a battle of attrition, we had to retreat back to the CP as our sections was running low on ammo and bandages.

The next time we hit the tan mortar we were accompanied by 1st platoon (I think) which gave us 6 full sections, that was enough man power to easily overpower the tan defenders and I think we took control of the tan mortar about 3-4 hours into the game. We left 1st platoon to secure the area and we fell back as we were tasked with another job. A bit later, green team lost the tan mortar and was asked to retake it however Mckee ordered Chris to send a section (he picked oscar) to assist the Southern group as they were getting low on numbers and needed help. Chris and poppa would join up with the remaining elements of 1st platoon and assault the mortar position again and again it was a hard grind. We lost a lot of people and needed to be reinforced (oscar was available and part of another platoon) before we could storm that position. We were finally able to regain control of the tan mortar and this time we were able to keep it. We defended for a period of time and since we were a bit bored we decided to try and capture an objective 75′ away from the tan CP. LOL Temir & Jeremy volunteered to run to flip the flag but it didn’t turn out very well (we supported the best we could) but it was sire fun to watch!

We were then relieved by another platoon and went back to CP to rearm and to eat, it was also starting to get dark so some of the guys had to get their NVGs. We decided to regroup at the green mortar and to eat there however our meal was cut short because Chris got orders to move us to attack another position. By now it was dark and found ourselves back at the tan mortar, this time around with the cover of darkness and the “fun toys” we were able to capture the flag in front of the tan CP and we also made entrance into the two story building. Our orders were to secure the second floor and flip all the flags so it meant green owned the building. We ran into heavy fighting on the first floor but was able to make it to the second floor pretty much intact and secured the whole top floor. Oscar secured the Eastern wing while it was my job to secure the Western so I got Eddy & Matt to guard the door leading to a stairwell & someone from another platoon & Stephen to guard the doorway just behind the the first two. Jeremy had more bodies than I did so he secured the 2nd floor lobby as well.

The tan team obviously wanted the two story building back and with one of the entrances around 75′ away from their CP, I knew we had a fight on our hands. Luckily in the middle of the fighting, another green section was able to get up to the second floor and I took them over so they could act as the 2nd floor QRF wherever we needed reinforcements. I heard some casualties on my side and we had lost the 2nd floor lobby so I sent a couple of QRF guys to me secure the entrance of our wing while I sent the rest to reinforce Stephen’s position.

While tan pushed really hard, we were able to fend them off for a good amount of time and eventually they did break through on our wing. For a while it was just me defending my area, I told Stephen it was only a matter of time before I fell and to watch his back. I didn’t want them to waste precious resources to try to assist me as it wouldn’t be worth it too. After taking out another 5 tan members the remaining tan guys rushed my room and I was shot pretty quickly. It was nice that they remarked how hard it was to breach as we put up a great fight… They withdrew without attacking the rest of my defenders, I guess they were too low in numbers to continue. Anyway I was able to be patched up so I could resume the fight and we continued to hold the second floor till we were told by command to withdraw and have a forced rest which was at around 2AM.

What I didn’t know at the time was that the green side had secured enough points to win the game so Mckee wanted to rotate platoons to rest so we’d be fresh later on. I wasn’t tired at and knew I could do 18 hours of gaming with my eyes closed so I asked for permission to continue and was accompanied by Jeremy & Henry. We attached ourselves to the few scattered sections still in the fight, I don’t know which platoon it was but we heard that the one that was still guarding the tan mortar was under attack and taking heavy casualties. We raced over, along the way we saw some tan stragglers and took them out pretty easily (PVS-14 + PEQ box = bliss).

Mckee was getting a bit of the action and there were some tan fighters North of the garage area who were giving us a really hard time so Henry and I were ordered to take them out. LOL sending two people to attack what I found out later was 6 people isn’t the best idea and luckily for us none of them were equipped with night vision. Unfortunately Henry was shot in the melee but I was able to take the rest of the guys out and secured a very forward position probably 50′ away from the tan camp. There I waited for tan members to walk by, lol I wouldn’t shoot at the first thing I see because I wanted to see the entire group before I opened fire and it was hilarious, um for me anyway.

The moon was hidden so it was dark and I had a huge advantage obviously, just wish I had a bit of support… I did encounter this “funny” moment, I saw a bunch of tan players fighting the green side so I shot them in the back. This one fellow didn’t like it and thought it was blue on blue, he kept yelling in my direction that they’re friendlies and afterwards would keep on fighting. After shooting him 3 times, I finally yelled back “I’M GREEN!” to which he replied “OH!” Sigh even if it were friendly fire, a hit is a hit but whatever I was having a great time so I didn’t complain. Hehe along the way I was also able to kill the tan commander Arnold, too bad I wasn’t aware of the poker chips they were carrying as it would have been sweet to get his. Anyway tan finally figured out where I was and sent about 10 guys to kill me and they succeeded. 10 guys with white lights assaulting a small area definitely means death for me.

After I returned to the game, I rejoined my green teammates and continued to defend the mortar. I was again in a forward position directing fire, I couldn’t hit the enemy however I could see them pretty clearly. We finally lost the tan mortar when game control informed us that our position was attacked with the tan artillery, a few of us were left puzzled because we still controlled their assets and the area was out of range for mortars officially. Whatever it wasn’t too big a deal, we were kicking ass and if game control wanted to give the tan team their mortar back so be it.

By this time it was around 4:30AM and I was starting to get tired but knowing that the game finishes at 7AM, I powered through it. We swept some of the buildings and ran into very few opposition and continued to check on the flags to make sure they were all green (even the ones close to the tan CP). By around 5AM light was coming out, I was ready to go but Jeremy had left some stuff at the green mortar so he had to go pick it up. I went to the staging area and sat on my foldable lawn chair waiting… During my wait, I closed my eyes and Jeremy mistook me for sleeping and went off without me lol. I was told by Stephen about 20 minutes went by between the time I closed my eyes and Jeremy going on a mission so I immediately grabbed my gun and ran to the field, I can’t leave a teammate by himself! Eventually Oleg and Henry rejoined us and we continued fighting till the end. At one point it was just Jeremy, Oleg, Graham, myself guarding the 2nd floor of the 3rd story building with 4 green guys guarding the 3rd floor. Tan which was well rested threw everything they had at us and sent at least a platoon if not more people to flush us out. It was only a matter of time before we died and we lost the building at 6:45AM. By the time I reached the green CP, it was 6:55AM and I knew the game was about to be called so I didn’t bother loading up though I think the battle to retake the 3 story building would have been fun.

In the end the green side won by a very healthy 42,500 points to 31,000 points and I was so proud of the team’s and my performance on the field. It was also an honor that whenever Mckee needed to “unfuck” something, he would send us to clear it up.

Hehe Keiko tags along and is our team combat photographer so there are a ton of awesome pictures and videos of us in action. Here’s a small sample, mainly the ones I like or am in (because I’m vain and like to look at myself haha).

In the one picture of Jeremy on the floor, he captured Testtube’s poker chip which was pretty awesome. 🙂 Here’s a video that Chris put together too…

Aww yeah if you can’t tell the game was absolutely awesome and I had a great time and by the end of it, I wish I were still playing. Also why does everyone act so surprised that I can play the whole game without needing downtime?!? Every other mil sim I’m able to last and I know how to push myself mentally to never give up, haha it’s not that hard. 🙂

I took today off to recover because I knew my back would be sore and boy was it… LOL it’s what I get for running around with 30 lbs of gear and a 10 lbs gun for 18 hours right, well it was definitely worth it and I can’t wait for Nightfall 3!!! This is what airsoft is all about.