Fall 2012 Connecticut Water War

[SEAL]

DX's idea sounds good to me; it's nice and simple, and easy to remember. We could also restrict 1000/1200/2100s if it's below 45. Should we do something for water balloons? Actually, I'd rather not use water balloons here (unless maybe we have a launcher round.), just because it's so much of a hassle to fill them, and it wastes so much time when you're filling enough for one round. I think we should just not use balloons in future wars for that reason. We could use them in clan/team wars, but that would be up to each team whether or not to use them.

I don't think ambushes will be a problem anywhere other than the abandoned area. How many ambushes have happened in all our wars? One (unless maybe you count the night wars, but we obviously wouldn't have those here.). As for the old buildings... Just be careful! I'm going to be playing to win, so I will be extra careful to avoid traps, and I won't go into any place that looks like a candidate for an ambush spot. As far as guns go, I really want to use my 2700 for the Long Beach West battles. I would keep it on 2.5X to last as long as possible, which would also mean you guys wouldn't have to worry about getting soaked too much. We'll see how the temperature is.

I would prefer to not start the rivalry rounds at this war, mainly because I want every possible weapon at my disposal, with no restrictions. If my team loses, I want to go out with all guns blazing, and I don't want to be thinking afterwords: "If I only had my 2700, I wouldn't have run out so fast, and I could've hit the enemy team when we triggered that ambush!". It might seem silly to some, but it's just how I feel. If the majority of people want to go ahead with it, I won't complain, but I would rather wait a little longer.

Wait, so we can war inside abandoned buildings? Awesome!

Does this change your mind about coming?

[Poseidon2000]

Sounds good. I want to start the rivalry when Captain Xerxes is completed, but that won't happen for a while.Does everyone think its okay for me to go to the pavilion? I think its fine for 10+, but I don't want to bother with the theatre, it just looks crowded by its self.

[marauder]

45+ will allow 1000, 1200, 2100, plus 2700 on 2x only
Below 45 Vindicator, 250, Gorgon, PPB, Colossus, etc.

How's that?


I agree with DX, we should start the rivalry rounds this war. You can't exactly use the weaponry excuse because we are all confined to the same weapons restrictions. In fact, if anything, you have the advantage considering the incredible field life of the 2700 on 2x. No excuses, just win baby win.

Duxburian, Marauder, Neptune, Tiffany, Danny, Tony
vs
SEAL, Scott, Poseidon2000, BoogieBoard2, Keith

I guess y'all get Wetmonkey if he comes - if he's cool with that. You currently have a 4 to 3 member advantage, may have a 5 to 3 member advantage, along with us having 2 n00bs - but I welcome the challenge.

Poseidon, my 9 year old nephew got the clear to play in the pavilion, I think you should be fine. I actually do want to fight in the theater. We should have a battle there, move things to make bunkers, etc. Otherwise I'm afraid we will just be running from pillar to pillar, and fighting in kind of an open area.

[Poseidon2000]

Sounds good. Most of my...er...all of my weaponry are gas guzzlers, even my 250! Within 3 PC fills, the reservoir's empty! would anyone be willing to loan an XP150?

[SEAL]

I think we should base the temperature system on output rather than specific guns. So it would go something like this:

Below 45: >5X
45-50: 5X-10X
50-55: 10X-15X
55-60: 15X-20X
60+: Anything goes

Of course, the rules could be bent slightly for certain instances.

I won't object to starting rivalry wars now; I know both teams have the same restrictions, but I would have more opportunities to hit enemies if I had a more powerful blaster. Plus I find it so much harder to hit an opponent with a low-class blaster than with a CPS blaster, regardless of what my enemy's using. I guess it's because the streams are so much smaller. And of course, my team would have to get used to blasters which they don't normally use. But I'm probably just blowing smoke out of my ears, and I'm sure nobody really understands what I'm trying to say anyway. Just go ahead and do it.

Should we divide the war up into regular rounds and the team round? Or should the whole war be one team round? Personally, I think we should have the team round at one of the areas, and the regular rounds in the other. I want to see pictures of Paine open space before I decide though. I really want to have a long round at West Point Beach, but that place would also work well for other rounds and special gametypes. Of course, if everyone's in favor of making the whole war into a rivalry round(s), we should decide where to fight. Maybe we could split it up into two rounds, one at one place before lunch, and one at the other place after lunch. How do we want to do this?

marauder: The way I look at it, we each have two veteran members. I have Scott and um, myself, and you have yourself and DX. These are the people that have been around for a while and have done well in previous wars. Just because you're a member on here doesn't mean you'll make a significant improvement to your team. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody; I have no idea how good those of you I've never met are. I'm just saying that we shouldn't divide up the teams based on number of community members. The current teams seem okay to me though; it would make more sense to have wetmonkey on DX's team, but that would imbalance things a bit.

[Poseidon2000]

I think the team/clan clash should be the videotaped one in long beach.

Just the open area allowing for only potential and skill.

[SEAL]

The only way the team battle(s) (perhaps we need a better name for them...) would be filmed would be if I had a Go Pro by then. I don't really want a camera man following my team around, since it might give us away if we're trying to set up an ambush or something. Open area fighting is something we usually avoid doing, as it is very physically demanding, and not much fun.

It would really help to know more about the fighting areas. I hope DX can post pictures soon.

[DX]

If the weather is perfect, there will be at least 4 rounds and as many as 6 rounds. The 3 hour rivalry round can be shortened if needed. This will be a Saturday-focused war since Marauder can't be here Sunday. However, you are welcome to stay at my house on Friday and/or Saturday nights and we may fight on Sunday if enough people elect to stay. My property borders Paine Open Space. Several beds are available if you need a bed, else we will kind of camp out in the 2nd floor of the garage/barn, which is insulated. I have enough total space for about 10 people. You can park in my driveway overnight, which can fit about 9 cars. However, it's best to park at Paine Open Space during the day so there's room in the driveway to get out.

Tentative Plan if weather is perfect:

Friday:
Any time: Arrival and war preparation (setup for Long Beach West must be finished!)
Players may spend the night at my house if needed

Saturday:
Any time until 9:00: Arrival or breakfast if you stayed overnight
9:00-10:00: Depart for Long Beach West (includes drive and walk in)
10:00-10:30: 30 min Theater Round or 2 shorter theater rounds
10:30-11:00: 30 min Pavilion Round or 2 shorter pavilion rounds
11:00-12:00: Return from Long Beach West (includes walk out and drive)
12:00-12:50: Lunch (includes time buffer from LBW activities)
12:50-1:00: Setup Paine Open Space (teams start at main and west gates)
1:00-4:00: 3 hour Rivalry Round (full park, OHS)
4:00-4:30: 30 min CTF Round (sunset at ~4:30, treat like a night battle)
4:30-4:50: Time buffer from Paine activities
4:50-5:00: Depart Paine Open Space
Any time after 5:00: Depart CT if needed or dinner and mod/repair party
Players may spend the night at my house if needed

Sunday:
if 6 or more players remain:
Any time: Option Rounds (OHS/OHK/CTF/OBJ) until less than 6 players remain

else: End of war

=====================

Changes if Saturday is rained out (more than light rain):

No Long Beach West unless there is a long break in the rain and no wind
Rivalry Round at Paine Open Space will wait for a break in the rain
Other Rounds will take place if there are more breaks in the rain

Sunday: if 6 or more players remain:
We can do Long Beach West or option rounds in Paine Open Space until less than 6 players remain

It doesn't matter if Friday or Sunday are rained out. I also don't care about snow unless it makes travel too dangerous.

*Also note that this may be our only opportunity to fight at Long Beach West with abandoned buildings. The City of Bridgeport intends to tear them all down and restore the former condition of the park. The 46 abandoned houses have already been removed.

[SEAL]

Excellent! Now we just have to stick to it. I'm still wondering if we should do OHS for the team wars, or a series of OHK rounds. Like I said earlier, if we use Ridgewood-type rules, I have a feeling that all the fighting will happen in the same place once the teams find each other (not that it's a big deal, but it might get a little dull.).

So it looks like I'll be leaving in the afternoon on Friday. I'll stay for part of Sunday if a few other people stick around. I might end up staying overnight anyway, to avoid driving back in the dark.

Do you have pictures yet? Also, I don't know where Long Beach West is, though that doesn't matter so much because I'd be following you to get there.

[DX]

I have a feeling that all the fighting will happen in the same place once the teams find each other (not that it's a big deal, but it might get a little dull.).

All I can say to that is "lol". Fighting in the same place is a symptom of short and objective rounds. Ridgewood wars played out a lot like the first OHK round at Downpour 2011. It is maneuver warfare. Consider the 2007 Battle of the Four Corners - the major engagements took place near the corners of a 2.5 mile long park. Likewise, the major engagements in a typical Waterbridge war would occur all over the place, including at the bridges, which are a mile apart. Paine Open Space is not quite so long, but it has depth and a lot of trails that connect everything. The water sources are also mainly ponds that put you in a vulnerable position while refilling.

[SEAL]

Hey, I haven't experienced this type of warfare as much as you have, haha. It's just that whenever I think of it, this scenario forms in my mind:

Both teams spend however long searching for each other until one or the other gains a visual. Then that team attacks the other one, and fighting begins. Assuming each team has to touch a teammate to respawn (because spawn points wouldn't work in such a large area.), then whenever someone gets hit, he/she touches a teammate and just resumes fighting. Unless one of the teams calls a retreat or something, both of them just fight in the same area until the time limit expires.

A good example of this is the first round we did at Downpour 2012. While not spread out over such a long distance, it was still the same type of battle, with no boundaries (though we did have a spawn point.). What happened? You guys headed for those rocky hills and waited for us, and we pretty much stayed in that general area until the time ran out. I didn't get to see much of the OHK round at '11 since I was an idiot and got myself killed, but according to the war stories, most of the fighting took place near where my team tried to set up an ambush (I don't really consider the initial pursuit to be real 'fighting'.). Also, when I fight with my brothers, we usually fight in wooded areas and start pretty far apart, so once again, the same thing happens; when we find each other, we keep fighting until someone gets eliminated (see my New Year war video.). Like I said, I rarely get to fight like this, but every time I do, it's the same outcome.

But hey, we'll see how it goes. I think I'd prefer OHS with large-scale wars; it was my brother's idea to have multiple OHK rounds.

[marauder]

I'm not sure where you got the touch another player idea, but Ridgewood never played like that. I don't like that idea at all. A few of the Vermin Wars were 1 hit scores with capture the flag respawn in the same battle. We played over a square mile in both wars, and still used only 2 respawn points. I think Ridgewood experienced something similar at Goffle. I don't have a problem with playing this way.

In regards to 1hk, that is my bread and butter. The first round of Downpour 2011 is as close as you can get to what most of the Vermin Wars were like. That is exactly how we played, and I have no problem with doing that again.

Staged fights on small battlefields are best saved for the non rivalry wars day(s) of Downpour. When we fight as teams, we need a big battlefield with lots of cover. Either 1 hit scores respawn, or 1 hit kills. Either way.

Also, I plan to set up a few cameras in the abandoned ruins, so no need to worry over having a cameraman.

[SEAL]

I seem to remember that they did it that way, or maybe you just had to be near your team for 10 seconds or whatever. It's been a while since I read any of the war stories, so I can't really remember exactly how they handled it. The only problem with having respawn points on a large battlefield would be that people could get lost trying to make their way back to the spawn point, if they don't know the area well. But I have never done a long-range OHS battle before, usually I do OHK, so maybe you guys should come up with the rules.

For the team wars, I'd be fine with either OHK, OHS, or CTF. I really don't have much of a preference between them. For the regular Downpour rounds, I'd rather stick to high-action games with a lot of fighting, like the Thunder Gulch rounds at '11, and the last OHS round at '12. I'm not a huge fan of the scenario-type battles, but we could do a few if everyone wants.

If I get a Go Pro for my birthday, I will try to get footage of every battle. Then I'll cut out all the boring parts and make it all into a movie.

[marauder]

I have seen Go Pros on sale for under $150. I'm considering getting one as well. DX is currently working on rules to propose.

[Poseidon2000]

Hmmm.... By Dec. I might have money for a Go pro. If we all have them, at the end we'll put it all together and edit et cetera. That could have optimal footage. And, with a good music background, we're good to go!

[marauder]

We will have some awesome clips to put together for a movie to release next spring...

You are about to get baptized in a tsunami friend

[Poseidon2000]

Who Thinks weather's going to cooperate? At this rate, I think the warmest it'll be is ~55 degrees F. lowest 25.

25 won't happen in CT. That's like where soakinader is up there. Hi!↑↑

Also, an update on attendance would be nice:
SEALs
Sappy Soaker Liberated Front. [M4]
Super Soaker Liberation Front
Neptune's crew?

[SEAL]

Bailey actually said he could probably come. We have to talk to his mom about it though, because we are going to stay overnight. Is Scott coming though? I don't think he ever gave us a definite answer.

[marauder]

I'm bringing Tiff, Tony, & Danny.

[SEAL]

So have you guys came up with a OHS ruleset? Should we use spawn points or not? I think it depends on how big the battlefield is. If it's too big, maybe we could use multiple spawn points, like 2 for each team, in different parts of the forest. We could set them up on Friday evening, but we'd have to tell the people who come on Saturday where they are. We don't want people getting lost looking for a spawn point.

But I think we should have them. What about you guys?