Thread: Kashan Desert 16 February 27th 2009 AAR - Turn The Page Road Trip

This is a AAR from Friday Evening Feb 27th the map was Kashan 16. The setting & introduction part is in the third person while the rest of the AAR is told from what my eyes witnessed on this harrowing day of courage and leadership which included the teamwork and determination of keeping a defensive over watch position inside south village.
Not many players enjoy defending, or end up defending their objective without huffing and puffing. There was none of that, no thoughts about going on the offensive even crossed our minds. We had our orders, which also included not to allow the enemy to overthrow us no matter what was shot or fired at us.


Turn The Page Road Trip:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khH9ih2XJg[/media]


Setting - 6 Men are once again on the road, after a short encounter with a Russian made BRDM, a relic of the Cold War, which had chewed them up and decided to spit their guts and body parts all over the desert terrain as they entered the vicinity of the Southern Village from the U.S. Outpost, the 6 man squad spawned and regrouped at the USMC Main Base in Kashan. They jumped in 2 freshly painted desert camouflage HUMMVW's, all the ammo they could carry and were not looking back. As they departed with the wind on their back, the desert welcomed them again, on a mission they would soon not forget.

|TG-X|D1sposableh3ro - Some call him Wyatt Earp, others know him as a fearless Tactical driven veteran Squad Leader who had a score to settle, and today it was with the MEC.

|TG-X|/|TG-22nd|Jeepo - A rag tag gun for hire gun smoke who ventures to both theaters of Project Reality, and the ARMA: Armed Assault Conflict. No mission is too small, whether it be in China, or Russia, to a quaint Caribbean Island rocked by a coup d’état known as Sahrani. This British Bloke doesn’t let fear find him, he finds the fear and exploits it in the victims he meets at the end of his rifle.

TMGexcafundo - Another Gun for hire gunsmith, who usually runs with a formidable Aussie, adversary, but found himself in the squad that was heading south and not looking back.

|TGXV|Mnam - The youngest of the pack, once was known as a young warrior who has since graduated and has ventured into the expeditionary forces, suiting up and anticipating the next challenge that comes his way. This time he was selected as the medic who would then be tasked with just not keeping himself alive, but with the task of keeping us alive as well.

|TG-6th|Zaboo - None of us know what his name stands for in the French Canadian language, however Zaboo hails from the Canadian Rockies where death without knowing how to survive is a daily occurrence and knowing your way around a weapon is something you are either born with, or die young trying to find out. Some say they want god on their side when going into battle, today God was nowhere in sight, we had a devil on our side and even God didn't want to mess around with that.

|TG-31st|Mr.Bob_Vila - As a loan from the newly appointed Reconnaissance unit, I grabbed the ammo I could and loaded myself into the gunner's position of the lead HUMMVW, it was good to be back in the sandbox.

I had recently returned from a quick mission in the northern Corridor of Afghanistan, and well the Mountains are fun, when you are on some R&R looking up at them on a chair lift, or from a Log Cabin, but nothing is more extraordinary than being in the vast endless desert, the sun high above looking down at you as the sweltering heat engulfs you. Anyone can fight in a jungle, or in a forest, but to fight in the 100+ degree heat for hours, takes stamina that very few possess. It was my time to get into some action and looking around at my 5 other squad mates I knew I had joined the right squad for that.

AAR:

What felt like a different day after the encounter with the BRDM was actually only a few minutes, as we drove out of the the USMC Base in Kashan Desert in the SW Part of the region, we were locked and loaded, 2 HUMMWV’s and a Logistical Truck in Tow. We headed towards the Outpost in the SW, it was there that a rally was set, the logistics truck was stashed away and we set out from the east towards South Village.

D1spo decided to take us around the southern road this time, no use taking the same twice and encountering the BRDM again. Jeepo had the LAT on him, this time ready for a shot at the Relic, as we moved down the road we dropped Jeepo off as he set out to go hunting meanwhile we stayed put for a few seconds, looked around, but neither saw or heard anything.

To the north in the Bunker Complex our teammates had fortified the northern bunker with a fire base and were on their way for a full court press onto the southern bunker. Even as I stood as the .50 cal gunner seat, as we drove in you could hear the roar of the BRDM gun the sound bounced off the mountains like a stone skipping across a lake, and in the distant there were sounds of mini guns blazing from black hawks and then, the sound of fiery debris falling from the sky. D1spo relayed to the CO that we were in bound, and the CO gave the go ahead, in the background you could hear the eruption of fire from the other squad leaders checking in, D1spo then told the CO he was turning off the main Radio on the HUMMWV, the only communication he would use to communicate with the CO, and with us, was with the radio unit we each were equipped with, he gave the signal to the HUMMVW in the rear, and all was silent.

Meanwhile Jeepo had found the as it basically jumped out at him as we approaching from the south, his weapon malfunctioned and a errant rocket barely missed the BRDM. Quickly, Jeepo ran back, we mounted up and pressed on, oddly, the BRDM didn’t follow, this was soon the mistake that would eventually cost the MEC the South, we didn’t know it at this time but we had gained the upper hand.

We moved in slowly after the large mountain formation to our right. the road gave us cover, a rocky berm rolled up and gave us shelter and only a glimpse of the Village on our right.

We surveyed the area, D1spo got out, we noticed no major contacts, but there was a fire base in place somewhere inside the village, but out of our sight.

I had the .50 cal Trained on two small buildings to the North/North East, mostly paying attention to a building with a viewable entrance and what seemed to be someone, laying prone, not a sniper, because D1spo or myself would have been taking out already, but there was definitely something lingering. As the minutes passed, we saw 2 more individuals move towards the right side of the building, MEC soldiers, noticeable by their uniform’s and mostly bearded appearance, the contacts were called, and then there was also a sighting of a possible contact to our rear.

D1spo then relayed over squad comm’s that a JDAM was being called in, and to get ready, he hopped back in, started the engine, and in a instant as the JDAM hit, a huge plume of dust comparable to a volcano erupting gave us the cover we needed as we were already in bound towards the village.

We roared in as bats out of hell, surveying the area, taking out the fire base which appeared before our eyes, and exterminating the rest of the MEC soldiers which had survived the blast. The contact to our rear as we moved in started to open up, the .50 cal gunner on the rear HMMVW returned fire, suppressing him, not allowing him to come out with a kill.

After entering the village which mostly was rubble by this point, we positioned our HUMMVW’s and waited. As our rally was being set, a lone BRDM came from the north and engaged us, the 2nd HMMVW was taken out, and my poor ranging of shots proved to be ineffective as it started to shoot up the HMMVW, I dropped the ammo container and somehow without bleeding out or destroying the HMMVW positioned it behind a stone wall which was once a small building. It was there that we also engaged some sporadic troops to our west, which were then killed off by our gunfire and by reinforcements to our South.

D1spo and Jeepo then went hunting after a lone MEC Sniper which Mnam spotted to our North. Zaboo was firing a few pop shots at him, and I started hitting a few shots his way just to keep him suppressed, little did he know that we were on his trail, Jeepo scored the kill, and all was quiet yet again.
We also at this point witnessed a sky cow flying by, we all got some shots on it as its misshaped steel body flew by us, but it did not come around around again as we had hoped to shoot it out of the sky.

Around this time our team to the north was encountering a massive counter offensive by the MEC, it seems that the lone BRDM was just a ploy to see what we had brought to the table to the south, and was a diversion for the rest of their team.

More units from our team arrived from the south, building a fire base behind the mountains that were first seen on our right as we meandering toward the village, a USMC Anti-Tank squad member from another squad and a sniper had positioned themselves on the mountains to our south, and it was at this time, that D1spo gave the word that he was going to take the abounded logistical truck back to our main to replenish supplies and get a fire base set up at the village.

I hopped in the driver seat, ferried him over, while the rest of the guys maintained a perimeter, and he got the truck, and before he sped off, I requested that he drop the repair station to get our HMMVW all fixed up, he complied, told the rest of the guys that if they needed extra ammo, or if they wanted any kits that the 2 boxes would be there for us and he was off.

In the midst of repairing there was another chopper that flew by, but the .50 cal wasn’t ready and another opportunity was missed, as I drove back excafundo had walked up to the crates and found a Stinger AA Kit that was not being used, and waited patiently for the skycow to return.

WreckingCrew as he is known in his native land of Australia (yes its actually a country and even its own continent and not just a movie with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman) was bringing up a logistics truck as was D1sposable, we initially thought wrecking was going to be putting it down in the village, but instead he was setting up a “in case of emergency” to the SW of us, it was almost out of our AO, but just barely made the cut off point. During this time, D1spo encountered some faulty wiring due to dust getting into the logistics truck unloading computer, and mistakenly dropped an ammo crate in the middle of nowhere, he had to return and get the second crate.

Upon his arrival, we set up a Fire base, to the south, just over the MEC line of site to the west, and even high in the western hills. It was then that we helped build 2 HMG Nests, Razor wire with Tank traps attached, and a AA Emplacement, as we built, Mnam maintained over watch on the HMMVW
.50 cal covering us as we dug in deep.

With the hot sun over our heads and the sweat pouring down our brow, we all got in position, Zaboo was on the front HMG facing NW, I was on HMG which was faced NE, Jeepo was in the AA Emplacement eXcafundo had made his way back and was ready with the stinger, and D1spo was on Comm’s with the CO and scanning the horizon and mountain side with his trusty M-16 ACOG.

We had reports of this time, of sightings of a few MEC stragglers in the mountains to our NE, I squeezed off about a clip and a half in hopes of hitting or wounding a few, or at least of keeping them suppressed, then, from the north, another BRDM showed up, with a truck of troops, our
Fire base to the south had been taken out by a another BRDM, the lone BRDM that had taken out our 2nd HMMWV some time ago, where it had gone, we were unsure, but that wasn’t our concern, we needed this BRDM down.

Positions were fortified, Zaboo from what I recall was shot out of the elevated HMG facing NW, Mnam I believe was treating Jeepo, D1spo was relaying Intel to the CO and squeezing off some rounds, and eXcafundo, was engaging as well, the BRDM in the process, took out the NW HMG, and one of the tank trap/razor wire emplacements, and the troops had since unloaded and started firing away.

Sometime during this engagement, the BRDM went down, I don’t know when, or how, I believe it was either from a LAT that one of my squad mates grabbed or it was from the Anti-Tank team mate high above in the hills, the enemy troops were also being suppressed or killed off as well, and it seemed clear enough to go rebuild.

D1spo had asked Mnam I believe to set the HMMVW which was miraculously still usable believe it or not to the side in a clear safe location, if a JDAM were to be dropped or if there was LAT, or H-AT in the AO, while he moved that, D1spo also moved the logistics truck, and the rest of us got to shoveling, as they returned and opened fire on the MEC Stragglers, I was shoveling a razor wire back up while the rest of guys who had shovels were also shoveling emplacements back up. This was when at the same time, we heard something.

Hearing a JDAM being dropped on you in Project Reality, is really something else, at first it can sound like a whistle, then as the milliseconds pass the air around you becomes heavy, and the whistle you first thought you heard now becomes louder but still very subtle, and you know that whatever it is, it is dropping at an incredibly fast rate, and when it hits, you are not going to be left standing.
I can still remember, shovel in hand, scooping the dirt up and out of the way, getting the emplacement set, when

*BOOM!!*

*DEAD!!*

The black screen of death pops up, the funny thing is, you know it’s a JDAM, but you also know that you can’t just get up and run away, it will drop and kill you, you can only hope that its not on the fire base, or if it was marked on the area which you were previously covered.

Yes there are those times when you can survive it and come out unscathed or bleeding, but where a previous JDAM was dropped on your enemy destroying most if not all of the buildings that you were defending, there really is little room to hide, plus in those 1 or 2 seconds at most, where can you really run? Not to the west, because there is still intermittent gunfire, not to the south, because you don’t want to completely give away the position of the fire base, you could try running to the east, but then if the spotter is up on the radio tower, or if there’s a sniper, you are going to be killed anyways, so you have to think, if a JDAM is coming down, I might as well take it, die shoveling, and hope that it missed the fire base and my spawn time is as low as possible.

The sound of the enemy jet passes in the distance, the black screen of death with the numbers 25, 24, 23 and so on counts down, I believe it started at 30, but when I looked up it was already down to 25, those 25 seconds or so can be the longest, or the shortest in game, the enemy has 25 or less seconds to get into the village, or you have even less time if they got a head start when the JDAM was just about to hit.

*SPAWN*

Gunfire was everywhere, you spawn with what you can use, I didn’t go with the ACOG, we spawned with the kits we had used previously, and the fighting began, we had contact to our east, some to the west, but mostly to the east, north east, you look at the map if you can for a split second and then you start firing, almost blindly, but with ease and a steady hand, you see how the rest of your squad is laid out and you fill a spot, or take a more spread out left or right side, and then even without having the SL order you to, you start to fire in coordinated bursts, or switch to single shot.

Little do you know, but you are working as a squad, covering one another, making sure to keep the enemy to the North, north east confined in a single area, which in this case you have the high ground and then they have rubble to jump over or run through. You don’t think of the 7.62 mm rounds or whatever larger caliber rounds which the G3 uses, you don’t think of very accurate weaponry that is being shot at you, your focus is that you are working as a team, without hesitation but with control as the teamwork thwarts the enemy advance.

In these key seconds after you spawn after a JDAM has hit the area you have been defending it becomes the moment that can turn a game in your favor, or it will give your opponent the upper hand.

Zaboo, Jeepo and D1spo, were on the offensive, neutralizing the threat, which had it been more than one squad, with one squad hitting us from the Northeast and one from the North west, we might have been wiped out, or our fire base could have easily been destroyed.

Or had the MEC used a support truck as the JDAM hit and came in, we would have been fighting for the high ground, it was this miscalculation on their side that along with the BRDM not engaging fully the first time, which proved to be one of the major catalyst points of the round.

Even the lone engineer truck which I believe Bullsyeye manned, as he stormed over the desert hills and tried to attack our Fire base it didn’t make us worry, we were all there, and he was neutralized before it became a threat.

We then regrouped, got in the HMMVW, with the adrenaline still pumping, checked our weapons, and we were off. Jeepo was at the wheel of the HMMWV, though I think he forgot that the Americans have the driver side on the left as opposed to the right, D1spo got the logistical truck and we moved on up, leaving behind South Village, which we defended as if it was our own home, and no one comes into our home and tells us what to do.

All in all it was an awesome round, the great thing about it was, that not one person huffed and puffed about defending, we ate up the opportunity to defend, and when other squads came and went we stayed and defended South Village while sustaining very few deaths, maybe at most 1 a piece or 5 or 6 in total, even with D1spo gone, no one ran off to go on the other side of the village, we all maintained our perimeter of defense, calling out targets both before and after we were JDAM’ed and we all played as a squad.

This round only proves further as to why I enjoy defending, and I hope that whoever reads this especially if you are new to PR, or are used to just flying, or using armor, you will take away that its not about what kit, or what asset you use, its about how you keep your squad together, and use each skill that a player has to the squads advantage, and I also hope that you can see how defending can really be as important as attacking, especially when you get a flag right before another one falls out from under you.