Super Soaker Central

Report: Battle of the Dead Sprint [June 10th 2007]

Ridgewood Militia vs Waterbridge @ Waterbridge

Game Family: OHS
Game Type: Standard OHS
Score: 9 - 2
Strength: 5v2
Length: 2 Hour Day
Class: Ranked Inter-Team War
MVP [RM side]: Bryan - 4 kills [in his first war]

Players [Ridgewood Militia]:
Rob: CPS 12K
Dan: CPS 2500
CJ: CPS 2500
Bryan: CPS 3200
Zach: CPS 2100

Players [Waterbridge]:
Nick: XP 310
Jeff: dual unknown pistols

This was a most interesting war, named after Jeff's staying alive luck on the run vs hiding with Nick. Both sides came into it with an important goal: WB to actually win a war, and RM to make up for that embarrassing tie last time. It remained very close all the way toward the end, then within 30 minutes of the official end time, a fierce engagement broke out and lasted for quite a while. When the dust settled, the RM ended up running away with the war and only added to the margin by the end. The RM enjoyed a rare triple combo - more numbers, more firepower, and more tactical opportunities sprung by those numbers. We often control two, but rarely all three. Interesting thing is that we never brought the full weight of our numbers against the enemy in the same fight. When Waterbridge engaged, it was usually fighting only a part of the RM, either a 2 person squad or a 3 person. The two big battles came against the 3 person squad, and in both it was composed of me and our two new players. The performance of our split squads and the distribution of kills [4, 2, 2, and 1] shows the power of the veteran effect. I both scored a kill and died, which snapped my streak of not dying in wars at 5. Dying is somewhat embarrassing when you've only done it once in the previous 9 wars!

The Early Action:

The RM got its act together and arrived at the Spring St Bridge somewhat early. Dan and CJ entered the park and established an ambush position, so Waterbridge would be pincered and ambushed simultaneously [Ambushers' Pincer] right off the bat. Waterbridge arrived as just Nick. He entered anyway, for Jeff was due to arrive soon. He noticed our others as he made his way down the path. Dan was actually posing as a jogger at the moment, and Nick didn't know he was a combatant.

Nick continued on his way and we regrouped, now knowing it was 5v1 at the moment. With that kind of numbers gap, we could afford to sweep the entire west bank. It turns out that Nick hid in the Sacred Grove, an area Bryan and I swept on the fringe, but did not enter. The RM reformed at the Grove St Bridge, discussed our next move, and promptly split. Dan and CJ made their way across the Grove St Bridge. Bryan, Zach, and I made our way back up the path the way we had come. At the end of the bluff, Jeff was spotted alone. We ran up and he withdrew to the Spring St Bridge. Rather than give him time to relay our details to Nick via radio, we rushed him.

On the very open head of the east bank, CJ popped out from the reed fringe, pincering Jeff between himself and us. In the exchange of fire, neither CJ nor Jeff could get a hit, and Jeff got away to the left. He outran CJ and outran myself. Normally I could run him down easily, but my right leg is still injured. The RM reformed as we watched Jeff making his way to the far-off Grove St Bridge.

We decided to split again. With 2 enemies, we could afford to split into 2 squads of 2 and 3. This time, Dan and Zach turned to cross the brook and CJ, Bryan, and I continued towards Jeff, our third use of a pincer.

The Middle Action:

At the Grove St Bridge, Jeff popped out from the opposite corner and ran. We gave chase, but lost him while clearing the bridge. Farther up the path, we could tell that Jeff and Nick had found each other, for we heard talking within the Sacred Grove. Despite no sign of Zach and Dan, we decided to attack.

Major Engagement at the Sacred Grove:

Attacking this position was one of the scenarios I posted a while ago, as it is a challenging one. We found ourselves in the exact same situation and positions as the scenario actually, only with 3 people attacking 2. Our center and right were at the fringe, with the left in front of the ruins of Stonewall. The enemy had taken refuge deep in the Grove, towards the rear, which joins with Ivy Hill and an unnamed stretch of hill that extends from it.

We initially started our attack on the far left, climbing up the log jam to reach that back hill. Unfortunately, Waterbridge spotted us before we reached the top. By the time Bryan was up high, they were back inside. CJ and I sprinted back to the center to cut off a possible escape attempt. We encountered Waterbridge just feet from the fringe and opened fire. When you are shooting into the fringe, you can only see dark shapes moving around. Inside, you can see everything outside in perfect detail.

This is when Bryan came around the rear and started firing into the Grove from there. I myself moved to the left and called for everyone to press in. Water flew in all directions through the thick reeds. Upon entry, I could just barely see Nick and attempted to hit him. The stream never made it far enough, so I gave that up and tried to leave. However, I somewhat got stuck for a minute, but there was no danger, for Waterbridge had recoiled away from my position and toward where Bryan and CJ had entered.

Finally, I got out and around to the right, where all four had emerged and three had been killed. Nick, Jeff, and Bryan had died. Bryan and Jeff disputed their deaths, but we settled with both dead, 2-1 the score.

The Middle Action Resumed:

In our rules, if a whole team is wiped out, they get a free refill. As Waterbridge made their way to refill, Zach popped out and shot both, unaware that they had already been killed! While waiting for that, we finally reformed with Dan and moved towards the gravel bar. By the time we arrived, Waterbridge had forded the brook. We then took our own refills and split for a fourth pincer. Dan and Zach headed toward the Grove St Bridge and Bryan, CJ, and I headed toward the Spring St Bridge. However, the pincer didn't work, as I heard the 2nd squad say they were fording, then going to the bridge. I acted on the "going to the bridge" part, crossing our bridge and walking down the east bank. We met up in the center of the bank.

The Late Action:

At this point, there were only 30 minutes left and no sign of an enemy, period. This is where we had a choice - either hide somewhere and hold the lead, or keep actively searching for an enemy that didn't want to be found. Dan wanted to keep going, so he took Zach down the bank. CJ and Bryan wanted to relax, so I took them casually up the bank [fifth split and fifth pincer]. Instead of staying on the Spring St Bridge, I convinced them to at least walk down to see the rope swing, which is up on the bluff. I was still looking for a fight. With about 20 minutes left, it didn't seem like there would be another. However, as we were going up the bluff, we noticed talking down in a small reeds grove to the right, against the bank of the brook.

Major Engagement at the bankside grove:

Again, it was a 3v2. Dan and Zach were still down at the other end of the park. We circled the position, which featured a downed tree surrounded by thorn bushes at our center, reeds at our right and left. Nick was under the tree, Jeff behind a standing tree nearby. In a very fierce, very close range firefight [within ft at most times], the small grove proved to be a slaughter pit. We scored two kills very early on. By the time I entered on the right and could see what the hell was going on, Nick had taken cover under the big fallen tree. He sustained massive amounts of water shot in his direction, especially from me. The downed tree protected his shirt, while the rest of him became totally soaked. I finally got him by surging forward when he was distracted by Bryan's shot and unleashed a long pulse.

Jeff cleared in and shot me, since I was standing so close and didn't get out fast enough. I withdrew to respawn, with the score 5-2. The fight settled down with three people out at the same time. It didn't stay cool for very long! When I cleared in, I fought Jeff from behind a tree. He left his back vulnerable to CJ, who completed the pincer with the kill. The killing continued, with Nick dying again. At 7-2, Nick remembered the free refill right, and Waterbridge left for the gravel bar.

The Late Action Resumed:

After intense fights like that, both teams often refill together and talk about what just happened. We all refilled as Dan and Zach came up the path. The new score must have been surprising - there's a huge difference between 2-1 and 7-2!

After refilling, Waterbridge respawned. Since there was still time remaining, and all 5 RM players present, we decided to attack again. Waterbridge fled and Dan shot both Nick and Jeff from behind. Jeff argued that he got Dan as he tried to defend. It was either 9-2 or 9-3 at this point. I suggested that they duel it out to decide the dispute, an idea taken very readily. After several minutes of refilling and preparation, Zach counted out 10 paces and the duel commenced. A 2500 vs two XP pistols. Jeff took cover behind a tree after being a bit outranged. When Dan moved around the tree, he let an entire 10x go off on Jeff's back and head. Although Jeff argued that the shot only soaked his head, everyone else would have conceded the hit.

Nick and I let the score stand at 9-2 as time expired.