Captain's Bane
<<March 28, 1998>>
"SIR!"
You hear the shout of your missing spy returning just as you're organizing your battleplan, your coveted CPS 3000 hanging at your side. He runs up to you, breathless.
"Sir!" he reiterates, "I just got away from the enemies! They're planing to ambush you at the South Pass, sir! You, by name!"
You look up, startled. This guy was good. Your team was going to have to go through the South Pass, whether they liked it or not--and it was so small that they'd have to proceed slowly and in single file. The footing's so treacherous that there's no way any of them could dodge.
Mumbling under your breath, you reevaluate your resources and other espionage. Each team consisted of four players. Your team members were armed with an XP 65, XXP 175, XP 250, and you yourself have the fearsome CPS 3000. The enemy team is armed with an XP 85, an XXP 275, and a CPS 2000--you're not sure what their commander has, no one could get close enough.
You run through your mind the terrain surrounding South Pass. It was a small ravine cut through some steep hills--too steep to climb. South Pass was so low that it sunk beneath the surrounding level terrain, so getting in and out took some work. The actual ravine was about 3 yards wide, but most of the area along the sides was so thick with vegetation that the area you could walk through any faster than a snail's pace was only about 2-3 feet wide. But there was no telling what he'd had time to set up for, he could do a rushed briefing and finish explaining during the trip while you sent out spies.
The more time you waste, the better the position they could get in. You hastily turn to your comrades and explain your revised plan . . .
This is an archive file, available for viewing only. No additions will be made to this page.
I let out a sharp whistle. Soon the other two fighters on my team came up to me.
"Mike, take the 65. Nick, take the 250. Brandon, take the 175. Brandon and Mike, go down into the ravine with Mike leading. If and when they open fire on you, Nick and I will start bombarding the attackers on the hilltop. Go! Nick, you hide behind that big oak tree right there, and I'll hide behind a beech tree that is over there a piece. Let's go."
~ScHuLzE11
Boy, you sure think you know what you're doing, don't you? Never get overconfident. I already said that this opponent was good, right?
First of all, this isn't entirely clear. "Start bombarding the attackers on the hilltop"? The enemy is all in the ravine, behind foliage, supposedly. Did you mean FROM the hilltop? I already said it was too steep to climb, so no one could be up there--not without a ladder, which I didn't list as one of your resources.
Also, I guess I forgot to mention whether there was any cover near South Pass, didn't I? Oh well. For the sake of this piece, we'll assume that there is.
The main problem with your plan is that you have one (1) plan with no alternates or backups, and it depends on the assumption that your opponents will open fire on Brandon and Mike. They set an ambush for YOU, PERSONALLY, by NAME, remember? It seems to me that your entire plan is built around a most likely wrong assumption. If you have to base it on assumption, always have a backup.
I suppose you are right on SOME points. here are some I dont think you are right on. I suppose I wasn't clear on some points, but oh well. here goes:
1.They were going to ambush ME, remember? If they don't open fire on brandon or mike, and they get across, they can obviously help the rest of us get across, right? Doesn't take a genius to figure THAT out.
2. When I said ON the hilltop i meant ON the hilltop. If there's going to be an ambush, the best place is from higher ground to lower ground. You put it in your tactics section,and you SAID this guy was smart. Hmmmm.
3. On your response to my strategy, you said you didn't say there is much cover. However, on the description of the scenario, you said that it is overgrown with vegetation. Seems to fly right in the face of your other statement, doesn't it.
~ScHuLzE11
Now THIS is interesting--I hadn't expected anyone to argue with me . . . well, nice try at making me eat my own words, but you're still not listening:
1. Theoretically, it could help to have them surrounded, except that their cover is so thick and multi-directional that they couldn't retreat anyway, and they'll equally defended from all sides, so it wouldn't do you much good.
2. Yes, I said that it was generally preferable to have the higher ground, but I also said for this particular scenario "a small ravine cut through some steep hills--too steep to climb". That means, "TOO STEEP TO CLIMB". You'd need to haul in a ladder to get up there, and there wasn't one available--and even if there was, do you expect the enemy to stand by while you leave the battlefield, go get a ladder, haul it over, set it up, and climb up? Besides, that'd be way too dangerous. It's a *GAME*, for pete's sake.
3. I never once, in any of my responses, said that there wasn't much cover, and most certainly not to yours. If you're referring to the fact that whether there was cover outside the ravine was questionable, that's because all the cover I talked about in the story prologue was lining the edges of the ravine, not at it's mouth.
From now on, please read what I write VERY CAREFULLY.
Have all pump full and post yourselves on their exit of south pass. Like this:
2 |SP| 2
Pump to full and soak them as soon as they come through. Afetr you have soaked them and have run low on water, have a spy follow them where they regroup.
~C-House
Well, at least you're keeping in mind basic direct-combat preparation.
As in the previous solution, you have only one plan with no backups built on an assumption which is probably false, only it would seem to me that this assumption is more obviously probably false. Last time I checked, the idea behind an ambush was that you stayed put and surprised the enemy when THEY came to YOU, so I don't think they'll be coming out of South Pass, guards or no.
Sounds like this match would be a stalemate.
"Jack, Mike," Higgs called loudly, "Guard the passage. Brian, I'm going in. You follow a few feet behind." The enemy, positioned on the other side of the ravine, heard Higgs's battle plans. However, the real plan was this: Higgs's twin brother, Brian, would put on Higgs's hat and go through the pass. When he spotted the enemy, he would move like a bat out of **** towards the rest of his group. The enemy, thinking that "Higgs" had bumped into "Brian" somewhere in the pass, would move in for the "kill". But, when the enemy reached the end of the pass searching for the half of the team, they would be water fodder from Higgs's team.
~Adam Stewart
Hmm, I guess that's not based on quite as many assumptions as it initially sound like, but you've still got a few problems. Why would they think that Higgs had bumped into Brian? And, more importantly, why would they move in for the "kill"? It's an ambush, and if you read my description of how thick the foliage was on the sides of the ravine . . . just to reiterate, you're probably not going to spot them, definitely not before they're right on top of you. At best, Brian would get soaked discovering their position. At worst . . . . .
If they're ambushing ME, by name, they are probably planning on me having a big CPS 3000. After all, it is the weapon I'm using. So I'd switch weapons with someone else on my team, probably the XXP 175 because it is easier to escape with. I'd move slowly, watching for the slightest sign of movement. I'd have one guy gaurding my rear, and the other two inching their way through the vegetation, one on each side. That way when they come at me, I can shoot them in the front while my other guys hit them in the side.
If they are prepared for me to switch weapons, I'd have everyone ahead of me a little bit. One guy on the narrow path, and one to each of his sides. They'd all be searching for my attackers. When my guys found the enemy's guys, they open fire.
And when I got through I'd get back at them by attacking their base. Maybe it was their own mistake for putting so much trust into their plan.
~Matt Lindsay
Once again, one thing I don't understand: *HOW* are you going to determine whether they're prepared for you to switch weapons?
Switching weapons is probably a good idea, because unless *ALL* the opponents are smart enough to adapt to that circumstance, their fire should be divided between you and whoever has the CPS 3000, unless their goal was just to take out the commander regardless of weapon.
However, sending the guys through the foliage . . . um . . . unless you're just planning to have them guard the pass so that no one can get through to your own base, I don't think you're going to get much help from them. A "snail's pace", even when the term is exaggerated, does not mean that you can even walk at normal speed through there, and keeping up at any kind of a decent pace would probably spoil any stealth aspect of the operation.
Rushing through and attacking their base would be a good idea, but you forgot to leave your own base guarded.
It was obvious that they were after my butt kickin' CPS 3000. If I were hit with a direct volley of xps on riot blast (guns with the nozzle removed) I'd probably by knocked over, leaving my gun vulnerable. I left my 3000 with one of my team mates and armed myself with something really dinky, the xp65 with just enough water for one riot blast shot (enabling me to get by one enemy, or to disable several). I'd also grab a whistle.
My members positioned themselves on the outskirts of the hilly area, and I moved through the pass on my own, nozzle ready to be removed if only one enemy attacked. If the enemies came in numbers however, I was ready to blow the whistle and let my team members take them on level ground. Suddenly, in the middle of the pass and with a blood chilling war cry, I saw the lead edge of the attack. There were three of them. I blew my whistle and with cries of their own my team members leapt out. Off I sprinted through the pass, and unscrewed my nozzle, in case the remaining man was there to meet me. Indeed he was, armed with a 2000. One stream of water flew at me. It must have been an inch thick. Quickly I leapt to the side and discharged my riot blast all over him. I quickly went on, while he was still pumping.
Alone and victorious I reached the wonderful item on the other side of the pass: The swimming pool.
~Reid
This is supposed to be a PLAN, not a NOVEL.
All right, I didn't say that you had a whistle, and I think its a little presumptious to assume that you'd have something like that off hand. Assuming that you'd see the attack before several synchronized ice-cold streams of liquid defeat smashed into you from all sides is EXTREMELY arrogant, given the circumstances. You have no reason to believe that there is a swimming pool on the other side. Anything else you wrote is so insignificant or obscene that its not worth a response (on the other hand, neither was most of the stuff I DID respond to . . .)
Ok- here goes nothing
Well that's my part of the plan I do nothing. I take my closest buddy in the group give him a 275 and I take the 3000 and sit bellow a tree, a car, or anything else we could relax against that is fairly visible but not to the point were where the two of us look like we wanted to be out in the open. Keep both guns pressurized and casually set at outsides. My friend and I would talk about anything that crossed our mind in our usual loud voices.
What is really going on is I'm using myself as bait. (the old saying don't ask of anyone what you would not do yourself) After using the backpack of the 3000 to make sure the others were filled and the 3000 would be able to have a full charge, I would blow air into the bag in order to make the pack look full. I would then send one man with the 65 to walk out away from where I am, mumbling to himself about what a dork I am. The guy would walk out about 50 yards acting like he was searching but not making his acting obvious if he is seen. When he gets out 50 yards or how ever far he can walk out, he would turn 90 degrees and arch around the base ending up at the opposite side of me then he started there he will hide with eyes peeled. While this is going on I would have my 175 positioned at a 90 degree angle from where my "scout " should be coming from.
SO it would look some thing like this
__........................
__/ _________\
_/ ___________\
_/ ____________\
/ ______________\
65__ My friend and I\
______175
Sorry I had to replace the spaces with underscores.
The dots of course represent the trail of the 65.
After the other team is tied of waiting for us they will come through the south pass. (Thought I forgot about it huh.) If they get there early enough they will see me give the orders to my "scout" and his disrespect for me, making me look bad as a leader. Also by sending out a lone man to scout while my friend and I do nothing but still take the largest weapons makes me look even worse. What I'm really doing is trying to get the "Good" leader on the other side to underestimate me. He won't be asking himself, "Why didn't he go through the south pass, What is he planing" but rather, "I wonder if this guy shares the same IQ number as a slug." An excellent leader might come to the conclusion that my apparent poor leadership was perhaps a cover-up, but a good leader would assume that I'm just dumb. When the 65 is in the woods he is under strict rules not to fire unless there is eminent danger of being fired at. My guess is that since they are looking for the 3000 they will pay very little attention to the man that has the little gun. If the man with the 65 sees the enemy he would have a good idea when they will most likely arrive at the relaxing point I've chosen. He would relay this information to me via system I call tank talking. (If you want more info. on tank talking just E-mail me at cps2000@hotmail.com) Using this silent communication system I would know what to expect how many and from what direction. I would then take out a Dr. Pepper and proceed on talking to my friend while very discretely looking around through the corners of my eyes. The 175 and 65 which have two different vantage points then I will also keep watch but will stay in what ever hiding position they can get into. Their job is to watch for the enemy. When the enemy gets close enough to shoot their unsuspecting sunbathers the 175 and 65 will reveal themselves with war cries and charge towards the opponents. Taken of guard my friend and I would each grab our weapons and have the enemy surrounded here we have the power, and therefor won, but I agree it could happen differently.
The opposition could have broken into to groups if one finds the bait (i.e. me) first then the trap will close like normal and we will have at least one of the enemies captured. Here we will calmly ask for them to drop their weapons. When their comrades show up, my squad will open fire with their guns at which point I shoot all of the 3000s pressure at them and then drop it in a retreat. This leaves them with a 3000 with a bag full of air, and buys my group some time. During this time I get one of the confiscated weapons and lead my group through the clear south pass. Unless of course all of the enemy didn't go hunting for me. But even if there were enemies left in the pass we would have them out gunned and out manned. Once we reach the end of the pass we would have traded positions with them compared to in the beginning except for we have then out gunned
~Cloud 9
One major problem: what if they refill the 3000?
Very interesting idea . . . I'd skip the soda, though, its not going to add much realism and it'll just get in the way when you spring your ambush.
First of I would tell the guy with the xp65 to go to the revine, pretending he was defecting. If you are facing a cunning opponent it may be necisary to have him bring someone willing to have himself executed or bring the enemy a realy big gun to prove that he is realy defecting. Once he has gained the enemy's trust he would offer to join the ambush. He could also give them false information. While this is happening, I would fill up and pressureize all of the guns. When the guy with the xp65 sees us he will quietly execute as many of the enemy as possable without the other enemies knowing about it. He would try to kill the more powerfull ones first. If he doesn't get all of them it would be fine because we would already have an advantage over them. Then he would join our group and we would eliminate the rest of the enemies (if there were any).
~Brian of NH
Well, OK plan, somewhat problematic. First, you'd have to supply your double agent with any proof that his defection is genuine before he left for the first time, since he's probably caused you to "learn" of his defection when he deserted (or at least that'd be a lot more believable). Because of this, you've got to gamble anything you think might be necessary, and you're risking the possibility that the enemies (just to be on the safe side & gain a good advantage) may take any equipment he has, ignore all his information, and execute him before the battle starts--then they've got the advantages of numbers, equipment, and significant surprise.
In addition, you are potentially (depending on the cleverness/cautiousness of the agent) revealing that you know of their planned ambush; this may cause them to change plans, giving them further advantage of surprise and quite probably preventing any assassination without immediate death for your agent, thereby re-evening the numbers and giving your opponents an equipment advantage.
Okay first i would try to get as many water balloons as i could,then i would have refilled all my weapons i could and fully pump then. Then i would give one guy a xp175 and tell him to run through screaming his head off. But right before i sent the guy running through screaming, i would have everyone take aim and when he runs through it, when the enemy pops up we open fire and the guy who made it across would open fire and throw the water balloons and then we immediately retreat while one of my guys is waiting in the bushes with the xp65 and then he fires while they are trying to gather themselves they go through the SOUTH PASS.
~Nate Harding
What's this obsession with water balloons everyone seems to have? They're inherently one-shot weapons, are far easier to dodge than "conventional" water weapons, they're far from cost-effective . . .
Well, that idea is, um, er, difficult to understand. Some of your information at the end there is garbled, but as I understand it your plan is to send someone through with water balloons and the XP 175 to try and get your opponents to expose themselves, have the rest of your party attack them as your decoy throws his water balloons and retreats, and then attack then while they're regrouping.
That would work, except that they're probably not going to expose themselves when they fire (they've had plenty of time to find firing holes in the bushes they've taken cover behind), your guy would be soaked by the time he got to the other side (mostly from accidental poppings of water balloons, I'd wager), once he's over there having him come back through alone is probably suicide, and you don't HAVE any water balloons! If you did I would have said so!