Jabal Al Burj - Tues 5/29

[Belhade]

This was a late-night round that went very well for the USMC side. One of my biggest gripes with this map is, of course, peoples' obsession with flying the whirlybirds which usually leads to a marked lack of US infantry available to cap flags.

I started this map out by creating a Helo squad which quickly filled up to 5-6 men. I started out locking it at that point, but after a few men dropped out I opened it up for others who insisted on flying. The initial assault went well with the two beaches, utilizing chopper and APC transports. There was the usual shuffle for Bridge and Dam for the middle of the map and the ticket counts were almost perfectly even for most of this time. As a squad leader I dropped a rally point under the Bridge and kept an eye on that flag while my squad kept flying the birds. Making a point to tell the rest of the team to keep rally points and APCs on land and not to continually spawn on the carrier.

This seemed to go over pretty well. Unless some squad lost their rally, most people stayed off the carrier. With one other guy using the Littlebird my squad used both Blackhawks as gunships with the miniguns (making transport runs when requested). Insertions and extractions went well for the most part; we did get shot down a few times which is normal. But clearing snipers off of mountaintops and around the Dam was very effective while the other four squads moved in for the fighting. A lot of people downplay the Blackhawks and their role as gunships, but can be crucial when transport isn't an issue.

This map, for the USMC, really comes down to getting inland and staying there. Props go out to my pilot squad - Pfc.Clark, CrazyHorse, WildWind, someone else I can't remember (sorry!) and especially sanada2005, who sounded suspiciously like Xerxes (or, in my opinion, Deepthroat) and claimed it was due to his new mic. Ha!



There was also a small issue of two random players (from separate squads, no less) hanging out in Al Burj long before we took City and Factory; apparently someone parked an APC there and people started spawning on it. They actually apologized and left once we told em to get back.