VOLCBAT Open Co-op Night (1st Sept)

[Pathy 0]

This has been pushed back from the 25th Aug to the 1st Sept!

At 1900hrs GMT, on the 1st Sept, VOLCBAT will be hosting an open co-op night. We will have a total of 40 slots available in the mission, and all are welcome to join us, although please read this post thoroughly for information on what to expect, and what we will expect from you.

First of all, who are we? We're a group thats been doing co-op since the days of Flashpoint, all the way back in 2002. We play along British tactics and platoon level drills, although we eschew the "bullshit" elements of realism such as marching up and down the square or calling each other by our ranks, in favour of being really good at the stuff that actually matters. Our motto reflects this; "realism, without the bollocks". More information about us can be found in our thread here.

So if thats piqued your interest, and you fancy abit of serious, team orientated co-op, without a 14 year old field marshal screaming at you down Teamspeak for not calling him "Sir", read on.

The missions: There will be one or two missions, which usually last between 1 and 3 hours each, depending on the missions themselves. There are no 'set' or scripted objectives, it's done via the platoon commander! You'll be split down into rifle sections, run by our own JNCO team. There are no respawns, no scoreboards, kill messages, magic GPS, or anything along those lines. The missions themselves are set up to reflect what a real life infantry platoon would be doing, so it's all very core infantry bread and butter type stuff - Wannabe Andy McNabs can stay at home! Before going into mission and kitting up, theres an O group with a full set of orders. This takes about half an hour to get through, but we find it well worth it in setting the atmosphere and ensuring everyone knows what the point of the mission is beyond "kill bad people".

What you need/Whats expected:

You'll need a legit copy of ArmA2, patched and ready to rock. You'll need Teamspeak, and a decent grasp of English, as all comms will be in English. We don't expect you to be shit hot with your skills and drills, but we do expect you not to dick about and to try your best to follow your section commanders orders. Be warned that this style of gaming is -not- for the short of attention span, but for those looking for something a little more immersive, you'll likely find it a fantastic experience. Oh and we also expect you to be punctual and on time if you're turning up. The server will be passworded to ensure no random public joins, and locked once the mission starts, as joiners coming and going will ruin the game experience for the rest of the players.

Timings (GMT):

Be on Teamspeak no later than: 1850hrs

Be on Server no later than: 1900hrs

There will likely be a second mission some time around 2100hrs and anyone who missed the first one will be able to jump onto the second.

Server Details (will only be valid on the 1st):

Teamspeak: 81.19.219.121:9000 Password: mfv

Server: 81.19.219.121 Port: 2302 Password: bayonet

Finally, please let us know if you're interested so we can gauge numbers.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Pathy
Date Changed

[Pathy 0]

Apologies to any interested parties but this is being pushed back a week till the 1st September.

Edit:

The following is the Warning Order for 1st Sept, 1900hrs (GMT)

For Attn 3Pl, A Coy, 1VCB.

Situation:

1st Battaion Volunteer Commando's are currently operating 15km behind the En. FLET, in the Chernarus region, with intention of disrupting En. lines of supply, command and communication networks, and rear area repair/rearm facilities. A Coy VCB is currently operating in the North-East area of Chernarus. The En. is operating in the Chernarus area in Bttn Strength, with armoured vehicles, artillery and air assets. They are mainly poorly equipped and trained Reserve forces, acting as security, reserve & force protection for the troops on the forward line. Within A Coys own AO, there is at least 1 En Infantry Coy. The ground in the Chernarus region is hilly woodland.

Probable Mission:

A Coy, 1VCB, are likely to be tasked with aggressive patrolling and/or a series of deliberate attacks in order to disrupt En lines of supply.

Own Main Effort:

3Pl's main effort is likely to be to perform a deliberate attack on a lightly defended En Airstrip, in order to destroy the En's medium lift capacity and disrupt their lines of supply.

Timings:

Earliest possible H-Hour: 16:00hrs (ingame time)

O group

1900hrs (real time), HQ Channel, VCB Teamspeak.

CSS

As per SOPs.

Glossary:

AO - Area (of) Operations

Coy - Company

CSS - Combat Service and Support

En - Enemy

FLET - Forward Line (of) Enemy Troops

H-Hour - When 'The Violence' begins

O-Group - Briefing/Orders

Pl - Platoon

SOPs - Standard Operating Procedures

VCB- Volunteer Commando Battalion (or VOLCBAT)

Edited August 27, 2009 by Pathy
Warning Order

[Smuke 10]

Hi Lads, RBC are interested in fielding a section if thats ok?

Just wondering if all section commanders ar VCB?

[Pathy 0]

Sure, bring as many of your lads along as you like! For the purposes of a public session, section ICs will be VCB guys where possible, as it's easiest for us to work within our own command structure.

[Smuke 10]

Roger that!

[Inkompetent 0]

Ohhh... This looks welcome! I'll see if I can make time :)

[Tarisai 10]

Hi there,

Would love to pop along for this. Had my first Arma 2 Co-op run last night on the TG server and it was a blast. I joined in mid-way through a hailstorm of lead, dust and smoke and it took me a while to get my bearings (read: 30 mins to work out how to type...RTFM I know, I know...)

I can't imagine how anyone can play this game without the co-ordination and leadership that was displayed last night. It was excellent.

I think over 3 hours I only fired my weapon a couple of times and it was still a blast. Very immersive.

So if you could use an extra rifle from a somewhat inexperienced recruit, I'll be there. Although I'm a noob the whole point of this game to me is to be immersed, follow orders and contribute to the objectives as my "commanding officers" see fit. I can see no better way to experience the game than organised events like this.

Cheers,

Tarisai

[LondonLad 13]

Hi there,

Would love to pop along for this. Had my first Arma 2 Co-op run last night on the TG server and it was a blast. I joined in mid-way through a hailstorm of lead, dust and smoke and it took me a while to get my bearings (read: 30 mins to work out how to type...RTFM I know, I know...)

I can't imagine how anyone can play this game without the co-ordination and leadership that was displayed last night. It was excellent.

I think over 3 hours I only fired my weapon a couple of times and it was still a blast. Very immersive.

So if you could use an extra rifle from a somewhat inexperienced recruit, I'll be there. Although I'm a noob the whole point of this game to me is to be immersed, follow orders and contribute to the objectives as my "commanding officers" see fit. I can see no better way to experience the game than organised events like this.

Cheers,

Tarisai

If you enjoyed the immersion over on the TG servers then I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience on the Volcbat servers - I know I'm certainly enjoying the gaming experiences here :)

[mcvittees 0]

Just a bump and a quick note to say, if you've considered joining a squad but never 'crosed the line' give us a try this Sunday. The immersion of playing as part of platoon will blow you away! :)

[Pathy 0]

For those interested, i've just updated the second post with the Warning Order for the mission. A more in depth briefing will be given at the O-group before we start.

[niall0 10]

Just a gentle bump, this is tonight people.

[RM Snipe 0]

Sorry busy cutting my toenails, much more important.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Inkompetent 0]

Seems like I'll be able to come tonight. 1x... well... anything aside from pilot signing ^^

[Ventis 10]

Might join you tonight. Never "crossed the line" as you said, so this may be my first step to a real application.

[Pathy 0]

We look forward to having you along! TS and Server details in the first post are now in place!

[Whiskey Tango 10]

Just a couple of hours to go before the kick off of the VCB open night.

Come and take part in a platoon attack british style.

Edited September 1, 2009 by Whiskey Tango

[LondonLad 13]

There will be another session after the current one (in progress as I type) completes.

If you've therefore missed the 7PM (UK) session then there should be another one after (at a guess - 9PM (UK))

[dr_chris 10]

Just finished our second game. Absoloutely fantastic game, we had a fantastic Platoon assault, fully completed with 3 full Rifle sections and a full FSG and HQ section. A good time had all round I think!

Thanks to VCB and publics who turned up, I bloody enjoyed it.

[Numptie 10]

The guys who turned up did brilliant, Especially the guys in FSG, You did brilliantly, I'm sure Andy would agree.

[LondonLad 13]

Really enjoyed this session with both VCB and non-VCB members :)

Excellent 2nd Mission, and I didn't get 3 Section lost *that* much as Lead Scout :p

Top work from all that participated :)

Edited September 1, 2009 by LondonLad

[Whiskey Tango 10]

A fantastic couple of mission tonight with the non VCB guys.

I hope you all enjoyed the mission and I for one was mightly impressed by the ease in which you guys slipped into the sections. Hoofin! (cheers red:P)

Thanks to everyone who attended

[Tarisai 10]

I had a great night.

Pretty much the whole time I was lost (1st person was really screwing with my situational awareness), rushed and dodging bullets. Awesome.

It was my second game online so I was struggling a bit with the pace and catching grid refs/bearings but felt part of the unit toward the end. When contacts started coming over the ridge after we fell back it was pretty intense!

Add to this I disconnected and when I spawned back in I was in the open with fire coming from behind, running after the rest of FSG.

All round great fun. Regret not coming back for the second mission but there's not much that'll pull me a way from freshly baked choc chip banana muffins and an already lit joint.

Mad props to Andy for keeping a cool head when us pubs were touch and go at times - and yes; this game needs whistles and bayonets :D

I'll keep an eye out for other VOLCBAT public nights. This is how the game should be played.

[Pathy 0]

It's a shame you didn't come back for the second mission, as everyone actually thought it was much better than the first! I'm glad you, along with our other guests, enjoyed themselves though. As you can probably tell by the post mission comments from the VCB members here, we were thoroughly impressed by the way you guys got stuck in. As the night was a roaring success, we'll definitely be opening our doors to the public again!

Abit of a summary of last night:

Mission One:

We kicked off with our first mission at 7pm; with around 24 bods in all, we began with an O group, patrolled out, and got into an early contact just outside our FRV. From that moment on we got proper stuck into the enemy, assaulting the first position before pushing onto the airstrip we were raiding. Almost as soon as we hit the airstrip the shit hit the fan with a massive Enemy counterattack, lots of casualties, and everyone having a hard time just keeping up a good weight of fire. With the Enemy starting to flank us, we bounded back and withdrew, with the enemy still chucking rounds our direction. We performed a small Re-Org in some dead ground just off target, and whilst we were getting ourselves sorted, we engaged and destroyed at least a sections worth of infantry that came legging it over the ridge line after us in pursuit. Still taking fire from all sides, we continued bounding back into forest until we'd broken contact, then put in a snap ambush. After being sat in Snap Ambush for around 10 minutes, and with the Enemy appearing to have broken off, we had the decision; to bug out and call it even, or to make one last charge.....

...in true VCB style, the survivors did the mental equivalent of fixing bayonets and we charged back the way we came, expecting we'd all die in a hail of bullets. Much to our shock, and like something out of a warfilm, we managed to kill all Enemy in our path as we charged forward, and came out the other side unscathed....going "how did we just manage that?!" We pushed back up to the airstrip, destroyed the Enemy choppers, and with time pushing on, called it a done deal.

Mission Two

The second mission was a much more typical bread-and-butter infantry mission. We had many more people on (37 in all), so we ended up with 3 full rifle sections and a full Fire Support Group. Our mission was a Platoon level advance to contact over a 1km stretch of high ground, into which the Enemy had firmly emplaced themselves, and although we do these kind of things semi regularly, it was one of the finest Platoon Attacks we've seen in recent times; fast, smooth, and with zero casualties.

The mission kicked off with the platoon advancing in 1-up formation, 1 section upfront, 2,3 and FSG in reserve. Before long we hit our first contact, and 1 section put down serious amounts of fire support as 3 section assaulted into first the position, clearing it of all enemy. No sooner had they done that than depth positions started opening up on them, and 1 section hit the dirt with tracers whizzing all around them. FSG were moved up to support, and together with 3 section, put a massive weight of fire downrange to win the firefight, well and truly suppressing the Enemy. 2 section then continued the assault by smashing up the Enemys left flank and into the next line of enemy depth positions, clearing them out the old fashioned way. The argument for bayonets continues! 1 section, who had become reserve section, followed them up, then assaulted into the final position, whilst 2 section put fire support down onto it from the cover of the recently cleared position. After lobbing a grenade into the final position and following it in with no small amount of screaming and bursts of full automatic, a small enemy counterattack was beaten back by 1 section whilst the other sections moved up to support. After ensuring all Enemy forces were dead, dying, or running away, we moved back into the final position and conducted a full Reorg and debrief.

One of our members took some video footage and I'll make sure that gets posted when it's uploaded!

Edited September 2, 2009 by Pathy

[Smuke 10]

Sorry RBC couldn't make it we were busy testing out some Brit addons.

We will try and make the next one for sure! (Anyway wouldn't want us showing you up now would you? :P)

[Inkompetent 0]

As a guest attending to both missions I definitely had a blast! Aside from being unused to British military jargon and the game not liking to show multiple markers at one time it worked really well.

I'm surprised at how well people got into their roles and just sticking with the gear they were assigned (instead of the usual stuff of seeing a medic with a SMAW and M14 DMR) and how well everyone kept the formations. Will a little patience and short explanations of orders from the VCB people everyone did well in shifting from marching column to line formation, bounding overwatch and shifting fires.

All in all it was an excellent show of how structured and efficient infantry combat can be. There was even one guy attending who did his second online round in ArmA2 ever, and still it all was smooth as a baby's butt.

Thank you for the open invite, VCB, and I'm really looking forward to the next time!