This one was a real "gut check", and I think we all realize we pushed the envelope a little.  Maybe we approached the practical and physical limits of a Rangerball scenario.  (Note I say only that “maybe we approached” the limits.  I’m not totally convinced.)  

Badlands was divided into two phases, each with a different format.  Phase 1 was a long-range patrol, through very open, broken terrain.  Phase 2 was originally supposed to be a “Triad” game, or three-way capture-the -flag game.  Players could be in both, or just one of the phases. 

Phase 1 – Long range patrol
This was something we’ve wanted to try for a long time. We knew it would be somewhat of an experiment, and warned everyone what to expect.  Now that we’ve done it, we can see what we need to modify, but everyone I spoke with enjoyed the experience (some very much so), even though it was pretty rough. 

For phase 1, two squads maneuvered for about 4.5 miles across hills, ridges and gullies, and navigated to a series of 5 objectives marked with flags.  Blue and Green squads each had 8 players, including one Controller.  They were briefed that their primary mission was to reach each objective in the time allowed (45min for some, 30min for others).  Their second priority was to engage the enemy as they encountered them.  The “enemy” consisted of the other squad, and snipers positioned out in front of them. 

Blue was made up of 4 players from 702 Recon in Vegas, and several St.George players.  Green was mostly the Kanab-based Ghost Echo team.  Each squad was playing the role of Army Rangers, on a recce op in Waziristan.  For each side, the opposing squad filled the role of Taliban/al-Qaida, and the snipers were acting as “hostile tribesmen”. 

Although they were free to choose their own route, the course was designed so Blue and Green would cross paths on each leg.  At the crossing points, we expected engagements – although the squads would then need to disengage to press on to their objectives.  Also, along the way were designated ambush zones for the snipers to harass the squads.  The ROE was, that if a squad member was hit he’d put his deadrag on and be stationary for 3 minutes, thus delaying the whole unit.  Each leg was timed, to see which squad got to their objective first. Time was marked when the whole squad reached the flag.

I was the Controller for Blue and jumping off on that first leg, moving out in tactical formation, was pretty cool.  Everyone was a little tense, and scanning the terrain for the enemy.  They weren’t told how many were out there, or where they would come from.  Scanning your sector was critical. 

Unfortunately, in both the first two legs Green moved faster than Blue, so there weren’t real squad-on-squad engagements. (There is an alternative story of what happened on leg 2, which I would like to hear in detail.  Anyone on Green care to elaborate?) The snipers did close in on both squads, though, picking off players from both. 

On leg 3, I made a Controller decision and had Blue start 5 minutes early.  Sure enough, that put us out in front of Green as they came to the crossover, and we had a sharp 6-on-6 engagement there, as we tried to cut them off against some red rocks.  In the middle of it, though, one of the snipers came up from behind and zapped two Blue guys.  Green then slipped away towards their next objective. 

Soon after that, however, Green’s squad leader “Mayhem” ran into some problems.  After pushing himself a little too hard, he was suffering from over-exertion and dehydration and the whole squad halted to take care of him. In the best Ranger tradition (see the Ranger Creed), they would not leave a man behind.  They were far from a road, and our start point.  Fortunately, Sniper 2 (aka “Predator”) is on the County Rescue Squad and had a valuable contact.  With a cell-phone call, he brought in one of his Rescue buddies, Jeremy, who owns his own helicopter.

Meanwhile, over on Blue (by that time we were about a mile away to the west), the next thing we heard was that Green was executing a “dustoff” (helo medevac mission) of their squad leader, who was taken up to the airport to rest and recover. He did recover quickly, and actually came back in a couple hours to join us in phase 2.  

Meanwhile, Blue pushed on to objective 4 and engaged Sniper 1, "Soulman", along the way.  Then, on the final leg, since Green was still occupied after the dustoff, we split off a couple of our squad and made them impromptu snipers as we pushed the last half-mile to the final flag.  We had a few shootouts on that last leg, and we were all pretty exhausted by then. Only 3 of us pushed all the way to the end – but we made it with a minute to spare before the objective time, which was 1100. 

Phase 2 – Capture the Flag
After the patrol, several guys were worn out or had to leave.  But about 8 others joined us for phase 2, keeping our numbers to around 20.  Our intent was originally to play a “Triad” format, with Green, Blue and Yellow bases, separated by about 1⁄4 mile.  In the middle was the Center base.  Some Regiment members played this format with Desert Edge in the summer, and enjoyed it a lot. 

But, with a larger field, and with a reduced number of players, we decided to make it just a regular two-base Capture the Flag format, and played several rounds of that between two of the bases.  Since I wasn’t there for most of phase 2 (helping recover the members of Green back to the AO after their adventure), I could use some description of the play.  Anyone have any input?  Badfinch?  Skullcap?  How did it go? 

All in all, this event was a moderate success.  Everyone agreed that the long-range patrol needed to be shorter overall, with shorter legs.  This, and some other adjustments -- like maybe more snipers -- would guarantee more action and wouldn’t be as exhausting.  Trekking that far, in the given time constraints, was a bit much for all but the most hard-core Rangerballers (like me, heh heh).  

But, we get to chalk up two new Rangerball firsts.  The longest distance maneuvers so far, and the first ever Rangerball medevac!  Boo-yah!!

-- Ajax