ARMA 3 HAVOC 1-3 Training and Mission 19FEB17 - Afghan Deployment

Heya folks,

The 506th Infantry Regiment had another training session yesterday prior to our first mission in our recent deployment to Afghanistan.  The focus was on team awareness and the rules of engagement as many of the locals have weapons for personal protection.  The video is around 40 minutes long.

Later that same evening I participated in the first mission of Operation Black Adder.  With the 506th deployed to Peregrine Airfield in Afghanistan we needed to start securing the surrounding area of operation.  Alpha Company, 1st Platoon was tasked with marching into the hills to assault, capture and eliminate an enemy encampment that was within six clicks of the airfield.  I was acting as the 1 platoon, 3rd squad, Bravo team (1-3-B) AR gunner under Sgt Richie.  After hiking up into the mountains we were spotted and illuminated by a flare, shortly after we came under fire from an em-placed machine gun which we assaulted into an eliminated.  We took sporadic indirect fire from enemy mortars while we maneuvered towards the encampment, 1-3 was the base of fire team, we provided over-watch and engaged at range while 1-1 and 1-2 assaulted down the hill into the encampment.  We then repulsed enemy a counterattack from over 1000m away.  The mission ended with us digging in and settling down for the night.  Overall it was a pretty successful mission, we had one casualty in the platoon but he is healing up fine.  The video is about one hour and fifteen minutes long, that's with forty five minutes of hiking through the hills cut out!  I hope you enjoy!

Whats new! ARMA 3 - 506th IR

Heya folks,

It's been a few months since I've been around here so I figured it was time to check in.  Sorry for the lack of posts, real life has been busy and I have been spending what little free time I have playing ARMA3.  For those of you that don't know, ARMA3 is a PC game that strives for military realism.  I joined the 506th Infantry Regiment in January, its a online clan that plays multiplayer coop missions within the game.  I started out with a two hour recruit training course to learn the basics, then four two hour OSUT (One Station Unit Training) courses in which we learned land navigation, fire and maneuver, radio comms and loads of other stuff.  I was then assigned to HAVOC 1-3-B.  We do squad training once a week on Sundays, have company FTX's (Field Training Exercises) every other week and once a month platoon training.  I recorded this last weekends squad training for shits and giggles, I'm glad I did as it was only my second squad training with the 506th and I was suddenly promoted to Bravo Team Squad Leader for the day. Yikes!

I struggled a bit with the comms, running multiple radios and communicating with my Bravo team, Alpha team, and then my squad leader was crazy and hectic and it's easy to see how quickly things can break down, especially in a MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) situation.  I learned a lot and will be better next time!  You can check out the video above, its about one hour and thirty minutes long but includes the briefings, route planning, FRAGO en route to the objective and then our final assault on the target and then debriefing.  Lots of fun, if anyone is interested in joining the 506th come on by to http://www.506thir.net/index.html

I also have two The One Ring product reviews coming up in the next few weeks, I will be reviewing Erebor: The Lonely Mountain and the brand new Adventurer's Companion so keep and eye out for those!  Take care of each other people!

Walking Dead - Game Review

Being a big fan of the Walking Dead on AMC I recently purchased and began playing the Walking Dead game by Telltale Games and I must say I am completely hooked!  I just finished up episode two, the game was created and released in five connected episodes.  So far the story has been gripping and the characters outstanding, they are well rounded and have their own distinct personalities.  Along the way you are asked to make many gut wrenching choices including cutting of a mans leg with an ax to save him and choosing one character over another in life and death situations.  Each episode has five or six major decisions, your choices are compared to all other players of the game at the end of the episode giving you an idea where you fall among other gamers.  For instance "You and 85% of people shot so and so".  Its neat to see how your decisions stack up against the masses.

Overall its a really enjoyable game, one I would highly suggest it.  All five episodes are available on Steam for a total of $25.00, its a really good dead, I mean deal.  Good story, great characters, gripping choices and a very nice comic book style make this one of my favorite recent games!  I you like the Walking Dead, zombies or just good games this one is for you!

Five Steins out of five!

Mike Pondsmith on Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk RPG creator Mike Pondsmith talks about the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 and his collaboration with CD Projek Red. I like the direction they are heading with this game, seems to be a small jump forward in the story arc and not a complete re-imagination like CPv3.

Cyberpunk 2077

The new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 hit the net today and it looks great. I am a huge fan of the old RPG, I loved the dark gritty future packed with megacorporations, cybernetics and drugs, drugs, drugs.

Hopefully they stick with the world created in the original books and not the shitty Cyberpunk 203x which was absolute garbage.

I love the videoboard in the background with the female, I think her name was Alt. The same picture was used way back in the second edition rulebook, nice nod to the old school players. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

Chris Roberts is back with Star Citizen

Hey folks, I haven't been around here is a while but I figured I would drop a quick post about another juicy Kickstarter campaign!  Chris Roberts, creator of Wing Commander, is back with a new space based PC game.  He is creating a whole new universe with both military and privateer type campaigns.  There are going to be single player, co-op and multiplayer space battles, it looks pretty awesome.

Head over to his kickstarter page here: Star Citizen

From Role Playing game to Video Game

The company that created The Witcher video games, CD Projekt RED, has announced its next game in production will be based on the Cyberpunk 2020 role playing game by Mike Pondsmith.

I've never played either of The Witcher games but they have been well reviewed which makes me excited for a video game version of Cyberpunk.  I guess the big question will be what era will it reside it?  The 1980's version of the future or a new and updated version that more closely matches our own possible future?  Either way I will probably be happy though I could not stand Cyberpunk V3 and found it to be a little to far out there to be a proper cyberpunk game.  Lets hope Pondsmith doesn't push this version!  Above and below are the only two pieces of concept art that are available so far and they look great!

You can see the announcement over on Actiontrip: Cyberpunk video game official

First!

So I finally decided to start a gaming blog. The reasons are many but I'll stick to a few. I love gaming, in all its many forms. I've been playing board games, role playing games and computer and console games for many years now. I intend for this blog to be a cornucopia of gaming related stuff, I will cover whatever my current interest is. This is a way for me to reach out and connect with other gamers as well explore different types and styles of gaming.

My current obsession is OSR, or Old School Renaissance. I have been playing versions of D&D for many years now, I started with the 1st edition set and played through second and third edition. I never quite made it into fourth edition as I was so tired of purchasing the same core books over and over. I have enjoyed every edition that I have played, but lately something has changed. The rules heavy third edition has started to seem clunky and over complicated. I longed for the earlier days of simple gaming, a stripped down system in which the story is more important than the rules. I discovered that there are many other gamers out there that also pined for the good ole days of gaming and that there are a number of systems that support the old school rules. OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry and Labyrinth Lords are the three I looked into. Ultimately I fell in love with LL. it's such a beautiful and simple system, but the addition of the Advanced Edition Companion really sold me. I love that the AEC is completely optional but adds most of the stuff I loved from 1st edition AD&D. Paladin, check. Rangers, check. More spells and equipment, check and check. Crazy weapon speed factor rules and rules for specific weapons vs different levels of armor class, nope. Its a simple system that includes just enough but not to much. I'll be posting more on this later though!

I hope you all enjoy this blog as much as I am going to enjoy writing it. It is probably going to be a bit eclectic, covering old school gaming, board games and the newest video games. Take care and roll high!