DAY 1, August 20th, 2011:
I got to the park a bit later than I wanted to, due to a late start and getting stopped twice by all the construction that’s going on in my area. After I got there, I unloaded everything onto a picnic table sitting by the basketball court (The pavilion was taken.). Scott arrived in a few minutes, and we set up the gazibo that he brought and filled up the water bottles. Right after we finished with that, everyone else arrived (Great timing!). After a tour of the forest area, we were ready to begin. I decided to use my 2700 because it has the best non-homemade power of all my guns, and is too heavy for my brothers (It does wear down on the arms after a while.). I also used my backpack, in which I stored a MD 4000 for back-up, with 2 water bottles and my Swiss Army knife (I later found out that I also had an old pair of socks in there, that were there since last winter. 😛 ).
For the teams, I was with my brothers, Scott, and wetmonkey, while M4 went with his cousins and DX. We set up on opposite sides of the woods, using a timer on our watches that told us when to start. Once the game began, wetmonkey and my brother, Keith, went forward on the trail, towards where the enemy was believed to be, while Scott covered the rear. The plan was to get the other team to chase them back to where me and my other brother, Jon, were hiding on opposite sides of the trail. Time went by, and I started to move up slowly, stepping only on moss, rocks, and anything that would make as little noise as possible (We were all being very over-cautious.). At one point I thought I saw someone decending into the gorge, but I never knew who it was (I still don’t.); nobody on my team said they went down there, and he didn’t look like anyone on the other team. After more sneaking around, I saw some people through the trees, but it turned out only to be my team.
After discussing strategy, we split up again, with me, Keith, and Scott going into the gorge, while wetmonkey and Jon went back along the edge. We posted Keith at the top of the cliff, while me and Scott decended into the ravine, stepping carefully and talking in whispers. Once we were sure nobody was around, we beckoned to Keith, telling him to come down. I can’t remember much of what we did while down there, until we decended the other side, going one at a time in case they were waiting. When we got to the top, we found wetmonkey and Jon, who told us they still hadn’t found anyone. So we doubled back, going back to the basketball court to see if they had given up and went back, but they hadn’t. We went across the baseball fields, into the woods on the other side, but we found nothing but a swamp, and decided that the other team wasn’t there. We went back to the main trail, at this point pretty bored, walking and talking normally.
That’s where we made our mistake. I remember someone yelling “Ambush!” I turned around and was like “Woah!” firing a quick shot with my 2700’s 5X nozzle (That’s the only setting I ever used.) to slow them down a bit, then took off running like a maniac. Due to my heavy load, and poor decision to run off the trail, they managed to catch up to me, and the rest seemed to go in slow motion. I remember losing my balance and falling forward, just as a load of water splashed my back. I landed on the gravel trail, skidding forward a few feet, water bottles flying out of my backpack. My left hand and knee were all busted up, but my 2700 seemed to be okay. I went back to the court, to get the wounds cleaned up and was joined by Keith a few minutes later. Then in a little while, everyone else came out of the forest; the battle was over, and my team didn’t even get one kill. Oh well, if we hadn’t got surprised like that, things may have been different. I was rather disappointed that I didn’t get much of a crack at the other team, but that’s what I get for getting bored and lowering my guard.
Next was the assault game. It was me, DX, M4, Scott, and one of M4’s cousins (Known as rambogo4.), vs. wetmonkey, my brothers, and M4’s other cousin. As seen in the video, we had the battle in the dumping area, with the defending team’s base on top of the gravel piles. I went with the same armament as before (2700 with MD 4000 and 2 water bottles in my backpack.), and we had a stockpile of water balloons, as well as DX’s homemade water cannon, and his WBL (Which later turned out to have a pressure leak, so we didn’t get to see it fire.). We each had 3 lives to start, and whichever team lost all it’s players first, would lose the game. If you were hit, you had to go back to a spawn point (In our case, it was the picnic table where we had everything set up.).
Now, my memory is a little hazy here. I don’t really remember how everything went, but I remember a few of the more interesting things that happened, so that’s all I will say here (Can’t remember what order everything took place though.).
There were a lot of stand-offs. As someone said (wetmonkey I think.), “A real Mexican standoff!”. There were also a few big rocks in the fighting area, and a few of us (Me included.) almost tripped. I think I only got hit once, but I can’t remember who shot me. DX fired off his water cannon, but I don’t think anyone got hit. I attempted to hurl a water balloon once, but I’m used to throwing baseballs, and the water balloon slipped out of my hand, landing about 10 feet away from my target (I have a confession to make: I’d never used water balloons in a battle before this.). I got a few kills, including a nice sneak attack on my brother. I think I also got the game winning hit (I definitely helped.) on my same brother (Jon.).
So we won that game, without suffering any eliminations. Overall, it wasn’t really one of my favorite games, mostly because it was a lot of open area combat, which I am not very fond of.
Next we had the 3vs3vs3 air pressure-only OHK game. Me, my brother Keith, and DX, vs. M4 and his cousins, vs. my other brother Jon, Scott, and wetmonkey. I armed myself with my MD 6000, which I have to say, is one of my favorite blasters I ever owned. It lasts forever, has a nice power gauge, damn decent power (I always use the largest nozzle setting because each setting is so similar in size.), and is very mobile (Especially after I was using the 2700. 😛 ). I also found that after one tap-shot at full pressure, it only takes one pump to restore the pressure lost. The only downside is the stupidly designed grip (Which actually works out okay for me, because my hand is just the right size where I can wrap my pinky finger around the bottom comfortably.), and the Max-D trigger, which hasn’t failed yet, but I feel I can only avoid it for so long (Update: It’s failed now.). For back-up, I had my usual backpack arrangment.
After the usual team photos, we headed into the woods. We chose a rather open, flat area, which is not quite my preferred environment, but there was a good amount of cover (One thing I did notice about the forest though, is that there is close to no trees thick enough to hide behind.). I think the middle of the battlefield was marked by a big, flat rock stuck in the ground like a buzz-saw. Each team went to a certain spot, and called out when they were ready. The way we were facing, M4’s team was to the right, and the other team was to the left. We started out by heading to the right, towards M4’s team. The other team had the same idea, and we were all headed to the spot where M4’s team started, I think M4 and his cousins started going away from us, maybe trying to flank the 3rd team.
Once again, I have trouble remembering exactly what happened, but I remember going into some pine trees, and attempting to take out some of the enemies who were close to my team. I honestly can’t recall whether or not I got any kills (I’m pretty sure I hit someone at least once.); my pine tree tactic made it hard for anyone to hit me, but it also made it hard for me to hit anyone. 😛 However, because of this, I was the only one left besides my brother Jon. So the only way to settle this, would be to duel. I can remember this a little better.
Jon, who was using Keith’s XP 270 with a Helix for back-up (He thought up a really clever way to store his Helix so he could pull it out very quickly. I give him props for that.), actually had a slight range advantage, based on our measurements (We measured 40 feet for the 270, and like 37.5 or so for the 6000.). We started on opposite ends of a small clearing, and the duel began. Jon did a pretty good job holding me back for a while, but with the 6000’s large reservoir and my conservative shooting, I outlasted his 270, and he pulled out his Helix. Well, that was my chance. I rushed in, stopping just out of range of his blaster, and shot him. The game was over. It was a lot of fun, so we decided to have another round.
This time, M4 chose not to battle, and filmed instead. The rules were the same, and the teams were similar to before, but with Scott joining our team, and M4’s cousins joining wetmonkey and Jon. My armament was the same as the first round (Gotta love that 6000.), but most of everyone else switched a few things. Our battling area was the same place, with each team starting on opposite sides of the big rock. After we took a few mock-battle pictures, we were ready to go.
For the 3rd time, my memory is not perfect here, but this round went very much like the first one did, I snuck around in the pine trees, holding off attacks. Like before, it was over pretty fast, and in an almost movie-like coincidence, me and Jon were the only two players left. Rematch time! My brother was wielding the 270 again, but one of M4’s cousins (Rambo I think.) gave him a camo covered XP 110 to use instead. Not sure if that’s good or bad statistically (I imagine the 110 has better capacity, but I don’t know about the range, especially since our 270 can shoot 40 ft.), but it turned out to be bad for him, as I’ll explain in a moment.
Once again, we chose spots (Might have even been the same place; can’t remember.), and began the rematch duel. This match lasted a lot shorter than the previous one, with me and Jon taking a few shots at each other, until the camo cover on the 110 slipped over the nozzle. With a blast of mist, I saw my opportunity, and charged in for the hit. And that was it for round 2.
The air pressure games were fun. Although after using CPS blasters, the air pressure blasters’ streams seemed small and weak. Didn’t really matter though. By this point, the day was starting to grow old, so we prepared for the end-of-day SOAKFEST!!! Yaaaaay…. Okay, I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down with joy, since I’m really not very fond of soakfests, but it was pretty hot out, and no other gametype gets you soaked as much as a soakfest.
So anyway, some little kid comes up, obviously in awe of us with all our gear and blasters, and asked his mom if he could join us. I think she said yes, but only if we didn’t fight in the forest. Since we were just going to have a soakfest, it didn’t matter where it was (Although I think some people were in favor of having it in the woods.), so we just did it in the field, and gave the little kid a blaster. Now there’s really not much to say here, after all, it’s just a soakfest, which is not too hard to picture (We have a movie too.). I used my 2700 again, but with no backpack this time, and I just shot people until I ran out of water. I didn’t really feel like filling up again, so I settled down and ate some food (I wasn’t hungry at lunch.).
After everyone was done and the little kid went home, we started packing up. I decided not to sleep out at the campsite, but I did go there for a while to hang out (I actually camped out there about a week later, in the same campsite!), and my parents brought pizza for everyone. We were thinking about having a night battle (I would have.), but most people were tired.
And that’s all there is for day 1.
DAY 2, August 21st, 2011:
On the second day, Scott was already there when we pulled in (Thanks to all the construction in my area, which had us stopped for like, 10 minutes.). We got to use the pavilion this time, since there was no party there. The others arrived a little while after we unloaded all our gear, and I proceded to fill the water bottles again. When I was done with that, everyone was pretty much ready to go. We decided to play CTF, with 2 flags, much like it’s played in FPS games. We had unlimited lives, but whoever was hit had to go to a respawn point. Teams were me, my brothers, DX, and Scott on one side, and M4, wetmonkey, and M4’s cousins on the other. I went with my usual armament, 2700 with MD 4000 and 2 water bottles in my backpack. We didn’t have any flags (I wanted to get some, but never did.), so we used two of iSoaker’s Goblins instead.
After a bit of discussion, we hid our flags. The other team, who’s base was on the gravel piles in the dumping area, hid their flag/Goblin in a bush in the woods surrounding the base. Our base was on top of the rocks by one of the baseball fields, near the “Entrance to forest” mark on a map I posted a while ago (Look up Dug Hill Park on WaterWar.net.). DX, being very crafty, hid the Gob- I mean flag in a tree on the edge of the rocks overlooking the baseball field. Our respawn point was the backstop. Now on to strategy. My brother Keith and I decided to stay back and defend the flag, while DX, Scott, and my other brother Jon, would attack and try to capture the other flag.
I remember this battle a little better than most of the battles on the first day, but it’s nowhere near perfect. When we started, me and Keith took our defensive positions near the flag, while the others went off on the assault. Well, as far as I can recall, nothing happened for a while, until we got a few attacks by M4’s cousins and wetmonkey. We fended them off pretty well, and eventually the others came back, apparently unsuccessful in their efforts to swipe the flag. I think we were under attack then, so all of us fought the other team for a while, trying to push them back. I think I got hit around this time; it was the only time I got hit in the battle. I believe we successfully drove the onslaught back, but they complained about us not telling them where the flag was, so DX took it down from the tree and put it on the ground. Then DX hatched a plan, and left for the assault with Scott and Jon. Once again, nothing happened to us for a while, until wetmonkey and one of M4’s cousins were spotted sneaking around in the woods. After a few skirmishes, I think we shot both of them, and sent them back.
It was at that point I think, that DX and Scott had distracted M4 (Who was on lone base defense duty.), letting Jon grab the flag and run. From what people told me, M4 chased Jon down and shot him just before he got back to us. I didn’t hear anything though, otherwise I would have rushed to his aid. Shortly after this, the game ended, right after M4’s other cousin (Rambo.) appeared from behind, apparently having gone all the way around the outskirts of the battlefield (In bare feet nonetheless!). So the game ended in a draw, with nether team able to capture the other’s flag. It was pretty fun though; I didn’t do much, but I got some action.
Then we decided to have a OHS battle by the cliff areas, since we hadn’t ever fought there yet. There were some restrictions on weaponry; each team had to have at least 2 piston blasters, and big CPS blasters weren’t allowed. This was an opportunity to try out my new CPS 1200, since it didn’t really count as “big” (Though I suppose a MXL could’ve been legal because it’s so underpowered.), and I hadn’t gotten a chance to use it yet. I decided not to carry my backpack this time, since the battle would be short (It actually turned out to be the second most water-wasting battle, based on my observations.). It was 4vs4, me, my brothers, and Scott, vs. DX, wetmonkey, and M4’s cousins (M4 filmed again.). The rules were, if you got hit, you’d have to freeze, hold your hands up, and count to ten before being allowed to fight again. Whichever team got the most kills would win.
So we went into the woods, back to the gully (Dubbed “Thunder Gulch” by someone.), which had a big puddle at the bottom (It had rained a lot.) that we could use to refill (Another reason why I didn’t take my backpack.). We set up on one side of the cliff, and the other team set up on the other. The fight began. Our plan was to stick to the high ground, and let them come to us, which they did almost immediately. At first, we had a pretty tough time keeping them back, but we eventually managed to get them to retreat. After that, we had a series of encounters, too many to possibly remember.
I got quite a few kills, the best one being a “Sniper shot”, where I shot a perfectly timed burst from atop the cliff, that hit wetmonkey while he was running towards the opposite side. I got hit 5 times (We were supposed to keep track of our deaths, which is easier than keeping track of kills.), including one where M4’s cousin shot me point blank in the back with his Stream Machine (Which I have to say, is one nasty piece of work. He was shooting from the bottom of the gully (Where the puddle was.), and could reach the top of the cliff where we were. I swear that thing got at least 60 feet of range.). I should have seen that coming, but I was busy trying to get the hit on wetmonkey, which I did a half-second after my brother shot him (That happened a lot.). My youngest brother Jon, managed to get a hit on DX with his Helix, which I have to say, was pretty darn good.
Anyway, after a little while into the battle, Scott and Jon decide to attack the other side (The enemy had been pushed back at that point.), but from what I heard (I was busy fending off an attack from the other side.), they were getting pummelled, and Jon retreated, but for some reason Scott stayed down there, which kept DX and some of the others busy, but he ended up getting himself killed a lot. We tried to help, but we were also being attacked from the other side, so we were occupied with that. So our team ended up losing by quite a bit, but I still think that was the most fun battle of the entire event. I was very pleased with my 1200, but I ended up wishing I’d brought my backpack, because the 1200 was the most thirsty blaster I used in the war. But I still managed alright, only having to refill once with half of a water bottle that Scott brought. I was almost out when the battle was over though.
We were starting to hear thunder, but we decided to have one more battle, same rules as last time. M4 took wetmonkey’s place on the other team, while wetmonkey took over camera duty. I took the MD 6000 this time, so I wouldn’t run out of water as fast. I left my backpack behind again as well. As we walked toward the cliffs though the woods, it started to rain. The thunder was still far away however, so we battled anyway. This time we switched our positions, with my team taking the side that the other team was on before, and vise versa. Right after we started, the other team began the assault, just as last time. They managed to gain the high ground, and I got killed once, by M4 I believe. So my brother Keith, runs over to the other side, and calls everyone else over (That side was easier to defend in my opinion.). Me and Jon made it over, but Scott didn’t hear him or something, so he didn’t know where we all got to. Rambo came back over to the side we were on, and kept us busy
while the rest of the team was focusing on Scott.
I was about to go back over, but just then a huge burst of thunder sounds right above us, and we decide to quit and get ourselves back to the pavilion. It was a pretty long walk; Scott and my brothers ran ahead, I, walking quickly, came afterwards, while the others followed farther behind. Once I made it out of the woods, I broke into a full sprint towards the pavilion, and found a bunch of people on a picnic who were hiding out from the rain. A minute or so later, the others come out of the woods, and we start to pack up. The game was fun, but unfortunately over too quick. I think my team was behind by a little, but not much. After dumping all our blasters and water bottles, we started packing up. M4 left first, then DX and wetmonkey, and finally us followed by Scott.
So how would I describe the first ever community war? It was a load of fun, but I feel like it was over too fast. But I guess that’s probably about the best we could do, given the fact that people have to work or go to school during the week.
I learned quite a few things during this event. I got to know some of my blasters better, I learned some new tactics, and a better idea of how to fight in the woods. Oh yeah, and skinned knees suck. 😛
I’m hoping we can get an even bigger turn-out next year. I still don’t know if we’d be holding it here again, or somewhere else, but either way, I hope we can get as many people as possible. I will try to bring some friends.
