The eight man squad assisted the rest of the company, guarding the communications base. They waited for orders to continue with their special mission. Once the all clear was given, they could rest a little easier and check their supplies and ammo. They were at max capacity for ammunition and their com gear was working great.
A crackle filled the airwaves. "Take the Wetworkz squad and commence." Squad leader Grifter knew the familiar voice of his superior officer. Operation Grab and Go was on!
The squad leader said to his players, "This is what you've been training for." They hurried off in the direction specified, a direction only known to them. They were headed to a munitions dump where the Germans keep new chemical mortar rounds. This new round is rumored to be one of the deadliest made by the Axis.
As they approached the munitions dump with caution, their advance scout returned to them. He told Grifter what he had seen.
"There's movement 100 meters to the northwest from where we are here. I've located three forward guards. I saw bunkers and buildings."
Grifter decided what to do.
"Ok, fan out. Forward assault push, move slow. Keep it quiet. Watch the brush. Stay about 10 meters apart. Eyes open. No com unless you absolutely have to. The enemy has ears, too."
As they enveloped the enemy base, they formed a near circle around the bunkers. A Wetworkz player is spotted, and it all breaks loose!
POP POP POP POP POP SPLAT!
"Hit!"
One Wetworkz down. So much shooting is going on that you can't even hear the players moving itn.
SMACK! An Axis player is marked.
Both sides lose players. Looks like Wetworkz is gaining ground. G-man, a Wetworkz player, crawls slowly up to a pile of brush. He is getting into a great shooting position. Right when he gets ready to shoot, he hears over his radio, "Play with honor!" Unsure of what he just heard he says into his mike, "Say again."
The voice comes back, but not on the radio.
The bush he is hiding behind is actually a sniper, pointing his marker right at G-man. He didn't hear the voice on the radio. He heard it coming directly from the sniper.
He honors the request for a surrender, stands up, and quietly leaves the field.
Brian Burkes plays the role of a paintball sniper at most scenario games, and when something like this happens to a sniper it is the greatest reward. To hear both players re-tell the story almost to the "T" back in the staging area is awesome because that totally gets rid of the story being just that, a story.
How often do you get to hear a true story like that? Not very often. Unfortunately for Wetworkz, the Axis reinsertion point was only a couple hundred yards away. The one for the Allies was all the way, a long way, across the field. Wetworkz was on a limited time schedule with extremely limited manpower, and unfortunately for them, they ran out of both.
Both sides lost a lot of players, and Grifter got shot in the back in the last few seconds of their
mission, by the same sniper who took out G-man. Since honor was used between the players, the excitement of being able to snipe out a squad leader was also enjoyed by Brian the Wookie. Players may feel bad if an objective is lost, but they must remember the camaraderie and the enjoyment of working together through areas crawling with the enemy. To get a squad to their objective alone--that's a major task. For them to achieve their goal is awesome. To return successfully to their base with the captured prop is icing on the cake.
When you're asked to play the role of a medic, carry a paintbazooka, lead a squad, or serve as a General, it's all for fun. The game producers rely on you to help make the game flow well, and be fun. Players depend on you for leadership, or for you to know your role and do your job as best you can. Storytellers will help help insure your name will go down in the chronicles of paintball history. Have you played in a big game this month?
General William "Bill" Bailey is an accomplished scenario player, paintball tank builder, leader of the German forces at Oklahoma D-Day, and produces the WWII Tour of Duty scenario game series. www.woodlandwarriors.com.
