So on Saturday I attended Operation Civil Hornet at the Picton facility and man what a way to start the 2013 outdoor season. The team joined up on the green side and for much of the day we were tasked with holding the various buildings, Zulu (us) had the three story building. One of tan team’s job was to get control of the buildings and they certainly brought the fight to us. Fortunately for our group though Chris was in overall command and Jeremy command of Zulu and we were able to hold off pretty much all the advances. From the looks of it on our side, it didn’t appear that tan was very organized and they certainly didn’t attack with force.

There was a third team in play, the PMCs that were suppose to be initially allied with us and we used those assets to shore up our weak points during the game. I’m not sure if tan command ever talked to the PMC command because well PMCs can go either way but they didn’t turn on us the whole game. It was the first attempt by the host at such a large game and for the most part things worked. The beginning of the game felt a bit more like a skirmish than mil sim but it certainly settled down nicely.

Heh I certainly started the day well after killing 8 tan members right from the get go, 6 who were using a truck as mobile cover to advance on our position. I have it on video and will upload to YouTube shortly… I also enjoyed the night portion of the event, the majority of the GHOSTS have NVGs and we certainly employed them with decisive efficiency. Chris also used his new thermals in game, at one point he popped smoke when we were getting a lot of resistance, used his thermals to identify enemy positions and took them out. Man now I want to get something like that. 😉

The weather wasn’t really a factor, the Under Armour Cold Gear 4.0 base layer worked great and I was not cold at all at any point of the day/night. My hands did get a bit chilly when defending the western side of the 3rd story building so I grabbed a couple of hand warmers.

All in all a great game, I don’t know if we demoralized the tan team completely but as the day progressed we saw a bunch of them pack up and leave. By 3:30AM, we couldn’t find a single tan player and the host called it. Alan came and took a bunch of pictures which can be found here and I’ve grabbed my favorites to post on my blog.

In the first picture, that’s the group I took out that was using the truck for cover. 🙂 Thank god Brian brought his propane stove for communal use, certainly helped when we were getting tired! Got to love the look on Mike’s face, unfortunately his PTW went down and I think he needs to buy a new motor.

I probably didn’t need to take Monday off to recover but whatever I’m going to enjoy my day off by playing with Brandon.

I’m playing a 17 hour game this weekend at the Picton facility and decided I wanted to upgrade my cold weather gear… Man was I in for some sticker shock but it costs what it costs and I don’t want to die lol. Picked up a men’s Under Armour cold gear 4.0 medium top & bottom, unfortunately they were $100 a piece as well as a UA touque.

After a few other odds and ends, the quick shopping trip topped $300 but oh well I’m better prepared for the cold weather now.

After ~7 years I’ve relinquished the position of captain of team GHOSTS. I felt it was time for me to pass the torch as I simply don’t have time to deal with the little nuances and airsoft politics. Looks like Jeremy will be taking over, lol it’s mainly a ceremonial position however every now and then something pops up that needs the attention of leadership. I know he’ll do a great job and woo I don’t have to sweat about setting things up anymore like dinners and other team stuff. 😀

Now I’m just a grunt, that is unless I’m called to lead by game hosts. 😉

Yesterday I attended TAC13 (Brian’s annual airsoft convention) and it was great, first year since he started I was just an attendee. In the previous years I would go and help set up the night before and man the team table, this year though in an effort to give more space to the retailers Brian did away with the team tables. I would have liked to help set up as usual but I was busy this weekend, still the guys that did go tell me there was more than enough help to go around. 🙂

Jason and I rode together and got there around 10:30AM, after briefly chatting with the guys in Brian’s office area I went onto the convention floor. First I hit up the BB Bastard booth, it was nice to see Jay, Brent and of course Derek. They had a beautiful banner with the team logo on it, haha looked awesome if you ask me anyway Jay was telling me about the new formula they’re employing with their BBs and about how they’ve expanded their customer service. To them BBs are more than just a product, it’s a passion and it’s great that they’re not joining in on the “race to the bottom”. Their stuff is always top notch and of course I loaded up for the upcoming season, I picked up 10 bags of 0.3g, 5 bags of 0.28g and 3 bags of 0.25g BBs so I’m ready to go. Truth be told I probably didn’t need to pick up so much as I don’t think I’ll be playing as much this year but it’s alright, BBs don’t spoil and I’ll use them up eventually.

There were the usual faces around the convention floor, Duy from AirsoftParts.ca, the CAPS table, Toronto Airsoft & Airsoft Innovations. Chris helped organize the Fight Club Custom table which was definitely a treat. In case you’re not aware, FCC makes upgraded PTW parts and fully custom Systema PTWs (well their guns have nothing Systema in them…) and it was awesome to see some of the stuff on display. I am tempted to get a FCC PTW, perhaps when they have their HK 416s back in stock I’ll get one but in the mean time I guess I’ll have to make due with my two other Systema PTWs. 🙂

Upstairs on the second floor was the used gear swap table, it’s where airsofters go to sell and buy used gear often at a steep discount. I walked around and looked at the stuff and while there was nothing I was interested in, it was definitely well organized and run. If you’re a novice to the hobby it’s definitely worth checking out when you get a chance because you can score some awesome deals!

Jason and I stuck around for about 3 hours before leaving. I was a bit sad I didn’t buy anything but then again there was nothing I was interested in… The airsoft convention is better for novice players looking to set up their kit (gun or gear wise) and well I’ve been playing for almost 10 years now and have everything I need. Maggie was happy though that I didn’t spend all the money I brought with me. 😉

Cornered?

While in the gear swap area looking at some BDUs when someone tapped me on the shoulder, when I turned around I saw that it was two members of PR, one gentleman I didn’t recognize and Bob who we had the encounter with at UA a couple of months back. Frankly I was a bit annoyed at first, I was literally cornered as the gear swap table was behind me, I had a wall to my right, Bob was standing to my left and the other guy was in front of me but it wasn’t so bad.

We discussed the grief between the two teams, I reiterated that it’s not the first time that Pacific Recon has been called out for cheating and reminded them about when there was already an earlier effort to get PR banned by the local hosts back in 2010 or 2011… I also mentioned how the GHOSTS were one of their biggest supporters at the beginning (hell Phil designed the patch they’re using), invited them to our big games and such.

Anyway they felt like we were picking on them (to which I can empathize) and that there are no problems on their team. I tried to emphasize that there is an issue and that if they ever want to shake off the negative stigma, they will have to change something up. After about 30 minutes of talking we eventually agreed that we have differing opinions which won’t be sorted out in a simple talk. Still with that said I did agree to let bygones be bygones and wished them a fun 2013. I’m sure they hate the politics of airsoft as much as I do and am glad that we were able to chat in a civil manner.

So that’s a wrap, TAC13 was a smashing hit and I look forward to going again next year.