[Plazmaburn]

Event: Op Ironhorse
Location: Guardians Centers of Georgia, Perry, GA.

Besides being a massive drive for me, ~8 hours to Corriander's place, then another 7-8 to get to the site from his place.

We arrived Friday afternoon, got checked in, chrono'd all of our replicas. Hit the 6 o'clock safety brief. There were some changes to the AMS rules that were specific to the site, for example: All of the buildings had some interior walls built in them, they all had about a 1 foot gap around the bottom, we could not shoot threw the gaps. Also we could not use murder holes. This change surprisingly made the game feel a bit more fair, to me at least.

The windows in all of the buildings were lower and bigger then what I was used to at Shelby. This made breaching buildings easier. It also made it that much harder to defend, because it was so easy to breach via a window. The windows went about to my knees so it was fairly easy to step threw or jump threw.

The site was not all that big, however it made up for that with the amount of cars that were scattered through out the area and the numerous close proximity of multi-story buildings. I think it was about a 150 cars I believe.

Some of the alley ways were barely wide enough for one person to walk down.

The location of the cars in this picture is not where the cars were. (once some videos start coming out I will post some links to them.)

I only played Saturday until dark, my boots decided to wear holes in my ankles... So I was out around 6 or so. Corriander played longer, but called it after someone shrugged his spoon kill. (Which it was totally legal to knife someone with a spoon as it was approved by staff.)

I died quite a bit, I also was handed intel to "protect with my life" prior to game start. UFS had numerous opportunities to search me, but never did. Matter of fact it is still in my shirt pocket.

Explosive ordnance is a 90% requirement for this AO. Grenades and rockets. I saw a sniper bragging about his 300ft range to everyone, took a Reaper to the leg and flipped out. I took 2 body shots from Reapers and I took them with style! Stung some and my ears were ringing after but I am no worse for wear then I started. I died more to nade spam then being shot.

I really liked the constancy of the G&G bio .33g I was using. However... THOSE LITTLE LIGHT GREY BBS I COULD NOT SEE HARDLY EVER!!

Careful rose the bar again after Corriander beat his last shot, 466ft, with a 516ft shot. I was on the ground in the area of the shot. He was in a 3 story building so he did have elevation help. I can not say more as I was too focused on kicking UFS tail. (We were CoST)

I did receive my VSR-X from careful at the game, however, I am not manly enough to pull the spring in it. Having a sniper rifle at this AO is a massive benefit, so is having a SAW. There are so many angles to be engaged from it is insane.

I did see Novritsch there. I did not speak to him, he was running his P*.

I think there was only 1 injury this game that I am aware of. Which is impressive considering the cars were cheese graters, and all.

Hit calling and use of dead rags was quite impressive considering the last AMS game I attended it was pretty bad. I do not factor in the night portion of the game into this as everyone cheats at night. NODs or not.

It was definitely a hard fought game during the time I was playing. CoST dominated a good portion of the field during Saturday, during the night this changed. I do not know what happened on Sunday. We had a long drive back, Corriander had work Monday morning, and I could barely walk due to the ruptured blisters on my feet. Not to mention we both were sore from running and what not, so we left early Sunday morning.

If you missed this game I feel bad for you. It was AWESOME!

Lessons: Build a box cart for all of my gear to make transfer to the FOB easier. Have a sniper rifle I can actually use... Invest in a gopro. Buy a setup for Reaper rounds. Buy more nades, and smoke. Don't use light grey bbs... A shotgun may prove advantages...

 

[Corriander]

And now for the corriander perspective . . .


Guardian Center is an amazing AO. While not spatial as large as anticipated, the vertical aspect of the site brought an urban element few other locations can match and catered to every play style. And when Plaz says explosive ordinance had a real use, he isn't kidding - I saw more TagInn Reapers fired and TLSFX termobarics tossed with great effect than at any other event. Yep . . . HWS actually had a purpose.


I ran my typical Milsim setup — Emerson ATACS FG, ESS Desert Locust with mesh lower attached, H-harnessed battle belt, P* Amoeba CCC (0.32g Elite Force bio) on a harness integrated point and a shoulder slung BAR-10 (0.69g ZrO2). The only change I would have made to it is getting new mags for my CCC; 2+yrs on my current set is really starting to show. Maybe I would have carried my sawed off M79 with a Reaper. Still thinking on that one.


I spent the first 6 hours of the game in and around the buildings in the lower right corner of the map posted by Plaz — bldgs 17, 18 and 19. I moved in and out of squads as best suited my needs, using the CCC far more than the BAR until well positioned. Static squads on upper floors quickly adapted to having an embedded sniper, allowing me multiple spotters and a medic dedicated to keeping us going.


A high hit ratio (~60%) was easy to maintain given the 200-250ft range I was predominantly working in; the BAR-10 being the same rifle I made a confirmed 449ft hit with 5 weeks ago at Shelby. Due to the high amount of cover at the AO I had to take far more head shots than I like to but I also had no issues with hit shruggers as a result.


Night yielded a completely different game. I ended up leaving my BAR back at the FOB and went in to stealth mode. I snuck around alone, taking shots when they presented themselves and doing what I could stay in the game. Shrugging happened a lot. I did indeed get a knife kill with a plastic spoon on someone's arm when they opened a door . . . but it got shrugged and I took a pistol shot to the face (hence why I wear a mesh lower!).


Following that disappointment, I headed back to the FOB. The squads I had been integrating with were heading out, Plaz was chilling with a chewed up ankle in my car, my legs were pretty sore and a BAR-shaped bruise was making itself amply known on my shoulder from fast racking a SPR380 spring all afternoon. The promise of a shower, food and sleep won out around 8:30pm.


Sunday morning was an easy choice to get on the road. Sore legs, Monday morning work meetings, and my family came well before a few extra hours on the field. While I did end up meeting up with some local guys who ran USF at a coffee shop Monday, I never did find out who 'won' the event. Can't say I really care . . . I had fun either way.

 

[Reliku]

Sounds like a great event... Looking forward to seeing some videos

 

[Shoushen]

That sounds like a blast, I'll actually have to get something besides a ghillie and attend one of these events at some point.

I did receive my VSR-X from careful at the game, however, I am not manly enough to pull the spring in it.

I can't say enough how much I love my VSR-X, it is so solid and well built. I'm sure you are happy with yours as well.

 

[Plazmaburn]

Battle belt and harness, with a hydro pouch. That is what Corriander and I ran. Way better then a full plate carrier.