Fulda Gap 2012

[marpat96]

Complete AAR will be up Friday haha I'm really tired. Never pissed so many bbs in my life. Stupid refs aren't worth dog crap, and my L96 rulled Sunday game.

[TreeRat]

Personally with what they were given, I thought the refs did a good job. Warsaw still tore it up, got some epic action at Fulda and OP Alpha for sure.

[marpat96]

They kept following me while I was sniping, saying I needed a sniper card and my gun shot under 400 with .25s.

[Mr. Marauder]

Personally with what they were given, I thought the refs did a good job.

I could not disagree more. On numerous occasions referees either had no idea what they were doing, or didn't give a damn. I approached a ref for a simple rule clarification, only for them to ask another ref, who had to ask another ref, because no one knew. Additionally, I never saw refs enforcing any engagement distances, and as a result quite a number of players received severe welts from players firing from within their MED. Furthermore, some refs were aware of the full-seal goggles rule, others weren't and some just didn't care.

In the night game, a tremendous amount of Nato players were constantly being fired upon while they clearly displayed a flashing glowstick and/or while yelling out they were already dead. This became so severe, some players were almost pleading with Warsaw to stop shooting. Not to mention Warsaw incessantly fired into Nato's dead zone. This went on for so long, I had to call myself out, and approach a ref to ask for them to put a stop to it; something completely uncalled-for, as they were only yards away. Only after this did the refs finally pay attention to the game and enforce the rules, including the no full-auto at night that previously went unchecked.


I understand refs don't always catch things, can't be in two places at once, etc, but the complete lack of professionalism coupled with the numerous safety issues is inexcusable and has left a bad taste.

Aside from that, I enjoyed running with the SC guys. We had our own little team that roved the field supporting other teams, and generally created mayhem where possible. Socializing with friends in and out of battle helped alleviate the frustration the game frequently brought on.
Many thanks to Dom for keeping away all the evil spirits with his lawn mower, Occifer Action for coming out of retirement and helping us out, Garrett for remembering to always use his inside voice, and I_am_Hoss for his magical Special Forces card, so I didn't have quite the walk back to the DZ when he was nearby.

All in all, I don't regret coming out to Fulda. My last visit was 2010, and I don't remember it being as bad as this year. Even with it being only an hour from the house, I don't believe I will return any time soon.

[slickridley]

I'll post a full AAR for the 120th later, but I agree with the ref situation,
They were not trained, they are not airsoft players, they where just there to get their 20$ and tell Ferg which bases where capped.
They normally are pretty lame, but I'm pretty sure those ref where on par with NFL replacements, A whole new level of imcopmentance from the orange shirts.
WARSAW has a blue flag at Bravo, Touchdown Braves!

[Gambler]

I saw a ref talking to a guy who had his goggles on his forehead for about 5 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore and told him he might want to put his goggles back on when the ref said "Oh yeah, put your goggles on." I also love the way they enforced, or should I say, didn't enforce the airstrikes. Funny that you airstrike a base only to have people in said base to shoot you right after.

[Rev]

Airstrike proof buildings!

[SteevoLS]

You can't fit 200 people in the buildings at Alpha. :-P

[Iam_Hoss]

I agree with the refining situation. Ferg needs to address the issue. The refs should be familiar with airsoft and want to be out there not just wanting to get paid.

I had some great firefights trying to assault Fulda Alpha both days from nearly every angle. Some especially epic attempts in ambush alley. The night game was great. I was able to take out at least 8 bunkers and trenches full of Warsaw troops behind enemy lines.

Having hundreds and hundreds of players on the field was great but if the reefing situation is not addressed I am on the fence if I will go again.

[atl]

I have to agree 100% with mr. marauder byr full review will be up later but I have to say it was fun but it was alot more fun the last 2 years. It just was so unbalanced for nato

[Karma]

1000 people on a field designed for 500, 800 of which are kiddies playing paintsoft, Gambler's dog and peanut butter at camp, one-armed witch, people vomitting all night, loud speakers, oh, and 800 kiddies playing paintsoft! Great weekend!!

Pros:

Seeing great friends and players on both sides
Great Weather
Gambler’s dog and peanut butter
Fun times with SWC and friends
Getting to shoot people
Check in and safety brief was fast
Running alongside great players and working with other great teams
Only 1.5 hours away, compared to many 8-12 hour drives we have made this year
Venders!
SWC WALKING into Alpha with over 30 Tan and simply flipping the flag and WALKING out without a hit! LMAO!

Cons:

Too many kids on the field with NO respect or understanding of the game!
People scared to get hit by a BB
NOT enough moving and shooting (simply pitched battles)
AGAIN, 5 people rushing 50 people watching
Communication of squad levels (command comms were great, however!)
Air strike confusion on both sides
Personally witnessing kids acting like complete retards, with silly name calling and laughing about not calling a hit
For the retards that spray into a treeline, followed with a “call your hit,” shut up and play the game!
Refs calling in issues they are NOT witnessing!

[marpat96]

Full AAR:

Got there at 8:25 Saturday morning, hurried with the team to get everything together, get the tent up and went to meet atl and Henry River Recon. Game is about to start, I ask HRR where my battalion is, and they say I should have gotten here earlier, when I told them we left at 4:30 from SC, they blew me off in a way I did not like. So Task Force 1 went to Rex, and the game started, I swear those first 5 minutes the world ended. Had a great time, used my sniper rifle Sunday and got 18 kills, then several with my new Elite Force 1911. Used my CM046 blowback Saturday and just completely raped Warsaw. Went through two 9.6v and a 7.4v Lipo. Night game was pure bullshitting and fun. So many safety kills. And I loved meeting with Dom, Garrett, SteevoLS, Marauder, Ociffer Action, loved seeing Mohawk back at a game, and just had plain old good time.

The Good:

1. Number of people
2. Well over 100+ kill count, mostly from Saturday
3. The death charges by Warsaw (let it rain)
4. Going "over the top" at Rex
5. Seeing my good friend Ghost (James Shafer) and his team
6. Actually using my upgraded L96 for the first time since 1980 and getting good kills with it
7. Making a sniper pay for not calling hits, 1911 anyone?

The Bad:

1. Refs were just plain stupid
2. Having refs constantly following me around about having no mesh and no glasses
3. Ref giving away my position at night, caused me to get shot up pretty bad
4. MED could have been enforced a little
5. The Warsaw Pact guy who gave Garrett the finger when Garrett told him to stop shooting in the dead zone
6. A ref getting mad at me for shooting a guy in the nose with my L96 from 150ish feet (are you kidding me?)

Overall:

Good game, had a lot of fun, will be back next year.

[fallout11]

We were scared of the one-armed woods witch also, she made an appearance both evenings to threaten us for taking "her wood". She turned a couple of airsofters who ventured too far in into donkeys.
Great time off the field, really enjoyed camping, socializing, grilling out, seeing a lot of friendly faces. Fun time on the field for the most part too, although I took a long break on Saturday afternoon. Nice weather for the event, especially Sunday. Better job on the portajohns this year, despite the larger turnout. Same for registration and chrono, although chrono procedures were a joke (any BB weight?!?) and not really enforced.
I will concur that many of the refs were largely a joke, clearly clueless regarding airsoft, volunteer paintballers for the most part. It's bad when I'm out there explaining the rules to them, i.e. goggles need to cover eyes to work, reminding players standing around a closed respawn that there are other places to go, etc.
I enjoyed the Nato player who on Saturday afternoon required repeated flamethrowings before calling out, obviously a masochist of the first order. Likewise we had some absolute asshats on Warsaw that were an embarrassment to even be on the same side with.
The hills made me miss my tank this year though. Overall a good time (third year in a row), would do it again.

[slickridley]

My thoughts on the ref situation,









Just my 2 x 7 cents on the issue.

[Felix]

Keep it up slick, that will probably stick. XD