NYC Airsoft

AAR: The Costa Contract 2014
by Moondog

Shouts of “Medic!” and gunfire echoed in the dark, punctuated by the random explosion of a grenade. A 100m in the distance, the limp body of a young man was being dragged to safety into an office building by two of his cohorts braving sniper fire from an unknown quarter. Silhouettes of friends or possibly foes darted from car to car.

Looking up into the darkened sky, there were no stars to be seen. Instead, there was just the dull orange lights of the warehouse. A huge, cavernous warehouse of what was once a Corning Glass factory, just outside of San Francisco.

For a last few years, The Tantalum Contract has been one of NYCAirsoft’s largest MilSim games. And now, with NYCAirsoft’s events expanding to California, we wanted our first West Coast Tantalum game to be epic. And what better place than the largest indoor, airsoft arena in the country.

Gamepod, in Antioch, California, is a real world tactical training facility, with over 40,000sq meters of full-sized streets, cars, buildings, an even a the forward-half of a Boeing 737 parked next to a simulated airport. Long-duration MilSim style games was often talked about but never attempted here. Bay Area players were used to CQB games that lasted 30 minutes with fast respawns, and long breaks between rounds and teams assigned by arm bands. 

What I was envisioning was something different, an indoor version of an outdoor MOUT game with uniform defined teams, long duration missions, and medic and respawn rules that were based on reality not video games. What we had planned was something new, a 4-hour CQB game that wouldn’t stop for reload breaks but would continue non-stop until the end of the day.

In typical CQB games teams started from known locations with fixed respawn zones. This created a very linear experience with very little variation, except when team’s swap sides. If a team over-ran another team’s spawn, play would be called to a halt.  

To change this dynamic I introduced a 3rd team, and instead of fixed spawn points, all dead players returned to a common staging area where Refs would organize them into squads, simulating reinforcements that would be inserted into the arena at unexpected locations via external entrances. Teams now had to contend with contacts from any direction and players had to maneuver and adapt.

We also introduced the players to MilSim style body armor and medic rules. Simulated plate carriers and hard helmets could provide an extra bit of protection by absorbing a single BB hit. When they were hit by fire, Medics didn’t magically “heal” players like in video games or RPGs. They ‘treated’ the wounded player allowing them to be “evacuated” to staging/field hospital where they could return to play much faster than untreated players waiting out their full bleedout time.

We took the players through short set of introductory mini-games to familiarize themselves with these new rules. To their credit, their maturity, experience, and honor allowed them to pick up the new play style rather quickly. In less than 30 minutes we started the game which wouldn’t end until four hours later.

Angle-Sino Security (A.S.S.) had the smallest team. Their CO, “Bait”‘s strategy was to keep his smaller team together as one force focused on the bonus missions rather than attempting to game’s primary objective (taking and defending the refinery’s Control Server.) The other team’s had the luxury of dividing their larger forces into smaller squads. “Soap” the CO of Global Resource Defense Enterprises (GRDe) took on double bonus missions after bonus mission, which would prove too ambitious, as the incomplete missions left his team in negative point standings at the end of the game. Kiev Afrikaner Secure Holdings (K.A.S.H.) had the largest team, nearly double the size of A.S.S. Their numbers allowed their CO “Delta Jay” to send troops to dominate the Control Server for most of the day. But their forces were often too dispersed causing them to fail to achieve bonus missions within the required time.   

After 4 exhausting hours, the Costa Contract was finally called to an end. The teams retired to the staging area (which is as large as some CQB arenas). We raffled off two M4 AEG’s and prizes donated by event sponsor, Evike.com. And as a bonus event, we held the first Steel Balls tournament, an unorthodox, pistol dueling competition where players line up to face each other with targets between their legs. Soap redeemed himself by winning the competition.

After the all the mission points were tallied, A.S.S. emerged as the victor with 300pts vs. K.A.S.H with 200pts. The winning team usually earns the largest game donation for their designated charity but this time, the CO chose to help a local charity. BNK3R the leader of an airsoft team from Santa Cruz, CA, had recently had part of a leg amputated due to a road accident. The donated funds would go to help him buy a prosthetic leg and return to playing the sport we all love, airsoft.

Watch the game and competition highlights
http://youtu.be/G6KUwgsoTvQ

 

About NYC Airsoft and Moondog Industries

NYCAirsoft.com is a website portal about airsoft, tactical sports and entertainment and cultural events, in New York and around the nation. Featuring the NYC Airsoft forum and Facebook group, it facilitates social networking among airsoft players and teams.

Moondog Industries LLC. is a boutique developer of tactical products created for airsoft, paintball, law-enforcement, and the military. Moondog Industries produces airsoft games benefitting such charities as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Wounded Warrior Project, the USO and the American Diabetes Society. http://www.moondogindustries.com

NYCAirsoft and Moondog Industries will be at AirsoftCon in Alhambra, CA this year. Be one of the first 100 players to come by the Moondog Industries booth and receive a free D-Jam rod courtesy of me.

Camouflage Techniques: Counter Shading
by Moondog

One key technique used in military camouflage but I seldom see used in airsoft, is that of ‘counter shading’. Which simply put, is using a lighter shade in areas that are usually in shadow (the underside of an object) and painting darker shades in areas that are usually in direct light (the top). A good example can seen in aircraft from WW2 to the 1980’s.

The principle is discussed in Sniper School when applying face-paint. http://www.olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_gear_camo_face.php

COUNTERSHADE PAINTING

Most beginners actually do the opposite and paint lighter on top and darker on the bottom which actually makes the shape of your rifle stand out more, because it enhances the shadows that our eyes use to make out the physical shape of an object. Brayski used the countershading technique in painting the barrel and scope of his sniper rifle. Because you don’t see the usual shadows under the scope, it makes the shape flatten out and meld with the background even though the pattern and color doesn’t match.

Another painting technique uses just 2 colors like tan and OD. With tan, paint over the entire AEG. Then paint the darker OD along the top half of all surfaces. Use a fading wave-like edge separating the colors. Then using spotting bursts to break up the edge, similar to the ME262 below. This technique does not require any stenciling or masking.

Tidbit: Why Isn’t counter shading used on US fighters today?
Countershading has a downside in fighter dogfights: showing the direction the aircraft is banking. But it is still quite effective and is still used by ground attack aircraft and is still used by Russian/Soviet attack fighters.

Countershading was used on US tanks in the early part of WW2 but was dropped for simplification of production and in practical use, dirt and mud covered such paint jobs rendering them moot. But the theory was still sound.

Note counter shading white paint on the underside of the canon barrel wheels and suspension undercarriage.

And finally here is an excerpt from the US Naval paint instruction manual from WW2 along with a diagram showing the use of the “Graded Paint Scheme” intended for use against other surface ships in theaters of operation where threat of aerial attack was minimal.http://www.hnsa.org/doc/camo/index.htm

MEASURE 22 – GRADED SYSTEM

Effectiveness

This measure is intended for use on combatant ships in areas where bright weather with fair visibility predominates, and high angle aerial observation is unlikely, and there is a likelihood of a gunnery engagement. There will be some reduction of visibility when viewed from low-flying planes, and from higher altitudes at extended ranges.

Method of Application

Navy Blue 5-N To be applied to the hull to the height of the main deck edge at its lowest point, as shown on Plates XIV to XVII. The upper edge of this Navy Blue area should be horizontal.

Haze Gray 5-H All remaining vertical surfaces and all masts and small gear.

Deck Blue 20-B All decks and horizontal surfaces visible from aerial observation. Under sides of overhanging horizontal surfaces may be painted white (5-U) to lighten shadows.

How effective is it? Well if evolution is any guide, lighter coloration on underbellies are found in both prey animals and predators.

AirsoftPeak (formerly AirsoftPark)
NYC Airsoft members will get 5% off their already low direct-from China prices. You must click on the banner to activate. The discount coupon code can be found on the Retail forum on this board. You must be a fully validated forum member to access it, so sign up and follow direction here: http://nycairsoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=379