07:00 Saturday, May 18. Plattekill, NY --- An hour after dawn and orange-shirted staff members were already on the job, directing traffic and preparing for the 700 players expected that morning. I drove in with my wife Vendetta, and our babies in tow (producing airsoft events has truly become a family affair) and began to set up for the day.

Operation: Bad Blood 2013, is the annual fundraising event I organize to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For the last two years, it’s also been Evike.com’s East Coast Customer Appreciation Game. Evike, “Evike Matt” and the rest of the marketing crew had flown in from Los Angeles the night before. It was Evike’s first East Coast event and was quite happy with how the day unfolded.

A core group of 5-6 player’s wives and girlfriends, that my wife dubbed the "Airsoft Widows Circle," formed the sign-in crew. They, player volunteers, and PSI staff processed over 600 players in under an hour and allowed us to have a rare on-time start.

At 09:30 we gathered all the players into Zaiere City for group photo and morning briefing.

At 11:00 the radio signal was broadcast to start. Fire could immediately be heard all over the field. Evike Matt and the camera crew set off to video and photograph the battles.

In the game scenario, a civil war has broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo among 6 different factions after an outbreak of the virus Ebola. The factions have sent out armies to collect virus blood samples from all 6 regions of the hot zone to claim recognition from the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The factions must compete to be the first to collect all the samples.

The AO was spread out over 100 acres of woods and villages. 100 independent “Tribal Militias” players were spread out into 3 village regions. They were tasked with protecting the viral samples and harassing the faction armies.

Some of the regions had built-up, MOUT style “cities” and “villages” with bunkers and buildings, including some two-story structures. But most of the field was a mixture of rolling hills, steep ravines, rough trails, thick green brush, swamps and forest. Two small creeks with short bridges fed into adjoining Camp Sunset Lake (off limits to players for safety) and an active local road became the fictional Congo River, allowing armies be “Ferried” to other fields by utilizing the help of PSI referees as “River Guides”.

The game had a brief pause at mid-game (30 minutes) for factions to reposition to new start locations to allow them to experience more of the AO.

At 16:00 Phase 2 ended and all the players were gathered to the Maha City and Pipeline fields for a final all player battle. All 6 factions and the Tribal Militia were positioned into various corners and the center woods of the field.  A bonus stamp was hidden in the field along with decoys. There would be no respawns. 16:30 I called the start to the insanity and at 16:45 it was over. None of the teams found the bonus stamp but all the players were treated to free slice of pizza, courtesy of Evike.com

At 17:00 Evike and the other event sponsors held a raffle giving away epic prizes including a one-of-a-kind prototype guns. The OD Merc and Deus X team both tied for first place with 4 stamps each and their players received Evike Beard Beanies as prizes.

3 players who drove up all the way from Georgia also donated prizes for the raffle from their field SSAirsoft.

By 18:00 we had wrapped up. I said goodbye to Evike and his crew and wished them a safe trip back to L.A. My 4-year old daughter was absolutely filthy from the dirt and donuts she’d gotten into and I was exhausted from lack of sleep and working non-stop since dawn.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank everybody again for coming out to Operation. Together we raised $4500 in donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We’ll be presenting the donation check at the LLS’s Manhattan office next week.

I'd like to thank NYCAirsoft staff of Embeds and CO's for their work over the last 4 months. Thanks also go out to the PSI (Paintball Sports International) field refs and the owners who helped make sure we had a great AO and professionally operated. Thanks to Frogman for managing the campers. Thanks to Overkill and his gang for offering to run the free Sunday skrimish games. Thanks to Bombidill and Primer for taking some killer photos.

Big thanks go to the many players who arrived early and joined the Crunch Time Volunteers. My biggest thank you goes to the NYC Airsoft Widows Circle: the wives, daughters and girlfriends, who volunteered all day. You made check-in the fastest anyone's ever seen at any large OP.

Last but not least, let's ALL thank the event sponsors: G&G, Valken Sports and of course, Evike.com. Without Evike's interest, this game would not be as huge as it has become, nor would we all have the opportunity to meet Matt and the Evike marketing crew.

Thanks to months of preparation and planning, and outstanding work by volunteers and staff we all managed to get the players deployed early and the game started on time at 11:00. I look forward to working with everybody again next year.

About NYC Airsoft and Moondog Industries

NYCAirsoft.com is a website portal to information about airsoft events, cultural events, historical reenactments, tactical sports and entertainment. Featuring the NYC Airsoft forum and Facebook group, it facilitates social networking among airsoft players and teams in the New York City area.

Moondog Industries LLC. is a boutique developer of unique tactical products created for airsoft, paintball, law-enforcment, and military use. Moondog Industries produces airsoft games benefitting such charities as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Wounded Warrior Project, the USO and the American Diabetes Society. http://www.moondogindustries.com/.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER AARs

DEUS X OPBB2013 AAR
By Mark Twain

Firstly,  from Shogun, Moyax, and myself - we had a great team and everyone came to play. It was a pleasure to run with you all.  Well done.

Phase one -  we started on the low ground about midfield in the Western Congo.  Shogun and I still have nightmares about that spot from last year's Tantalum.  We spent a week there one day. So the first order of business was to check out asap. The only real mis-communication all day was here at the start. 

Without giving up our organizational structure to illustrate, the original idea had been to attack Maha City from three sides immediately as there was a high probability of locating a sample there.  Unfortunately something got fubar'd.  Shogun and I headed into the swamp (water, boot high muck, lilly pads, roots, rocks - good stuff ) and thought that the elements would be following.  Striking out in front and carefully picking our way in the swamp North of the city we noticed after about 10 minutes that no one had followed.  And then all hell broke loose on the west side of the city and they were engaged with the Tribals.  Apparently the Tribals inflicted high losses on a large part of DEUS X.  We continued into the swamp and were able to engage and take out a large number of the tribal from behind.  The casualties re-spawned and were able to swarm the Maha compound where we located a valid sample.  Score one for DEUS X, God, and our mother Congo.

We continued to the Pipeline Project where a search turned up nothing.  Moving on to the Burned House we met with resistance coming from the North as we headed West.  As we rallied just West of the Burned House we came under attack by what I believe to be OD Mercs.  They held the high ground leading to Pondo Village and had infiltrated to our South next to the Congo River.  A long firefight ensued with DEUS X actually being surrounded and bogged down (I'm not sure if any Tribals had joined from the North or not but it sure seemed like it) for a bit of time .  However, in the name of God and country DEUS X rallied to eliminate the threat from the South and break through the well-defended gorge leading up to the village.  Many thanks to our DMRs who were patient and stealthy and the EF for their long flanking manuever.  However all samples in the Pondo Village area were decoys.  We took a few mins to re-group, hydrate, re-load, at the village while deploying 360 security. 

With time winding down we were to search the Pondo Highlands down into the Pondo Valley and swamps. Then with or without another sample the decision was to attempt the choke point / funnel of death that joined the West and East fields and move on Zaire City.  During the search several more decoys were uncovered and then with our search guided by God a real sample was uncovered in the Northern Pondo Valley.  Once again 360 security was set-up to defend the sample until our specialist (sample collector) arrived.  With only 13 minutes remaining in Phase One DEUS X started the long march back to the staging area for food, hydration, ammo, and prayer.

Phase Two -  At the start in the Southern Congo DEUS X was at less than 50% strength.  This changed the original OPORD for this phase. We divided up what we had and began the search.  The Main element, led by Rig, worked their way up  the ridge towards Mont Matadi, Elephant Gap, and Matadi Village. They were met with some spotty resistance from the Marxists but were able to secure another valid sample. At about the same time a coalition with the local Tribal faction was formed.  Our specialist was en route when he and the fireteam he was traveling with at the time ( including myself) were ambushed by Black Shirts.  This delayed his arrival but Rig and his crew held the sample.  At this point almost 100 % of  DEUS X had rallied on the ridge along with our new friends, the Tribals.  The Marxist were at a huge tactical disadvantage in both numbers and position.  They fought valiantly as DEUS X  and the Tribals pushed them back. Mr. Spank in his infinite wisdom negotiated a treaty with elements of Task Force Congo that had crossed the river from Western Congo. Unfortunately DEUS X, coming from the high ground and under the watchful hand of God, had too much momentum and they chose to withdraw.  During this time we were led to another valid sample; making four for God and country.

With about 30 minutes remaining, Delta Xray actual made the call for all DEUS X to rally at our insertion point. The plan was to Exfil at this transfer point and catch a river ferry to where we could insert in the East Congo.  It was a long hard journey and with time slipping away we re-grouped at the East Congo insertion point and headed for Zaire City hoping to find one last sample .  There seemed to be some confusion en route as we encountered OPFOR, we were told the game was over and not to engage them. DEUS X command (Delta Xray) had been monitoring game command all day and had received no such message.  So in the name of God and Mother Congo and with only minutes remaining we pushed into the outskirts of Zaire City and caught the Tribals napping.  To their credit, they were well organized and obviously had a plan on how to defend as they re-deployed within the city.  Our small advance team of DEUS X operators were caught in relatively open terrain and were pinned down and for the most part rendered ineffective until time ran out.

Operation Omega - This was basically a 15 minute team death match free-for-all.  DEUS X started across the small foot bridge (which was a funnel of death to get 97 troops across) from Maha City. All teams involved knew that they could engage the OPFOR from their starting points. It was crazy and fun --- smoke grenades, Thunder Bs, full auto rain, and  literally hundreds of people all headed towards the center of Maha City.  Our hope was to secure a "bonus" sample located somewhere on the field. A few remaining DEUS X operatives were able to secure a sample only to find it to be decoy.  Fun was had by all.

In the end we tied with the OD Mercs who are (were) the reigning champs.  Once again - well done DEUS X!

DEUS X - For God and Mother Congo !!!

Mark Twain out.

Mark Twain was the CO of the DEUS X faction.

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The Marxist Way. The People's Way
AAR by Sonic

First Phase

The day started out very promising with Marxist recruits filtering into the assembly point. Our fearless leader, Mr. Spank, was otherwise occupied with spreading the People's word around the field. That is to say he was stapling propaganda everywhere it would fit. I was thusly tasked with informing the recruits of the Commander's intent.

As the hurry up and wait drew to close, we felt the faction was all on the same page and ready to fight. Photo ops, speeches and more waiting started to eat away at the warrior spirit. Finally we were able to rally and prepare for battle. Our initial tactic of sweep and clear was announced and we waited for the signal to begin. We were off!

The plan was to break the larger faction into two forces, the Mass and the Structure. The Mass consisted mainly of recruits and trusted squad leaders. The Structure was a small command force steering the Mass and protecting the Collector. That fell apart quickly. We took Zaire City with no resistance and determined there was no sample to be found. It was time to push into the Eastern Congo.

We immediately took fire from hostile Tribals which forced the Mass to dig in and defend, exactly what they were instructed not to do. After 25 grueling minutes and a couple disputes with Tribals about respawn rules, we found a stamp and pushed on deeper into the East.

We encountered small pockets of resistance but found a second stamp very quickly with minimal casualties. Our Commander made the wise choice to push south and hire a ferry to the Southern Congo. Taking the hills and valleys in the south was best done with fresh legs. We rallied, discussed orders and marched on.

We began taking ground, hill after hill. Suddenly a frantic call for help stopped us in our tracks. The fear inducing warrior Russian informed me he had an injured comrade and we called for cease fire. After waiting for what seemed hours, the injured comrade was medivac'd out of the AO and the ceasefire was eventually called off. We tried to take more ground but the hills of the Southern Congo proved to be too much and we broke for lunch.

Second Phase

We began the second phase in the western most point of the Southern Congo. Forces were thin because no one wanted to rejoin their tired and hungry comrades that remained in the field. This is airsoft! Slowly our forces grew and Commander Spank lead us through the ridges and valleys. Word came in that a sample was found, but it turned out to be a false alarm. After gaining some ground we found ourselves pincered into a corner. Tribals had us pinned down while Deus X slowly closed the gap.

Mr. Spank wisely made an alliance with Task Force Congo to try and get us all out alive, to no avail. Plans were made to abandon the south for the greener hills of the Western Congo. We steamrolled through the southern edge and pushed onto the Burned House. Here we found evidence of our previous Propaganda Ministry, but no samples. We pushed east once again towards the Pipeline. Here we found ourselves in a futile battle with the corrupt forces of General Green's Army who seemed to be defending the pipes for an unknown reason. There was no sample to be had. The horn sounded and thus was the end of the second phase.

Final Phase

An all out war had exploded in the Maha City. We decided it was best to let the dogs fight it out and we would come by and collect the bones. Great plan, but it didn't work. Rounds were flying, grenades were exploding (some too close for safety concerns in my book) and men were giving up the ghost everywhere. It was wonderful chaos.

The proud Marxist comrades ended Operation Bad Blood 2013 with two blood sample stamps and a lot of pride in their Commander.

Vive le Congo! Vive le Revolution!

Sonic was an EMBED REF for the MARXIST faction.

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AAR by
Reaper

This was the first time me and my guys from TF 278 attended a large-scale outdoor event, and Bad Blood didn't disappoint. Not to say everything went according to plan, but in the end we accomplished our main mission: Have fun, which we did.

The three of us signed up for General Green's Army, volunteering for Recon duty, hoping to aid and assist our CO's in their mission to obtain blood samples scattered throughout the AO. We arrived on the day and were presently surprised by the sheer number of attendees, and were excited to gear up and join the fray. We geared up and heading to the chrono/ sign in area, which was surprisingly efficient considering the volume of people needing to go through. The three of us were checked in, chronoed, and out with the rest of Green's Army in less than ten minutes after joining the line.

After the group photo and morning briefing we shipped out with our team to our start point, and immediately encountered the long paved uphill road aptly named "Heatstroke Hill". We made a left at the end of the road, and ventured into the forest, to our eventual start point adjacent to the Bula Highlands. We assembled we the rest of our CO's and Squad Leaders and began organized our groups, relaying our base strategy for taking the Highlands and hopefully, the samples nearby.

Shortly thereafter, the game was on. Our three man squad was tasked with heading over the first "hill", to scout the valley below to see if the terrain was passable for the rest of Task Force 1. Once we hit the top of the ridge, we were immediately ambushed by Tribal forces, who were lying in wait on the next ridge. Two minutes into the game, and we pulled our dead rags and marched back down the hill to the triage area below. We encountered heavy resistance and were bogged down immediately. The requisite time had elapsed, and we respawned, and continued with our task of scouting for biohazard containers and enemy forces. We attempted to climb the hill again, but found our legs weren't as prepared for the climb as we had thought. So, after willing ourselves up and over the first hill, we descended into the Bula Valley and attempted to hook around the second hill, when we encountered Tribal forces. We yanked out our dead rags and headed back to triage area, which, after we struggled to climb that blasted hill, again, was gone.

We were told that the main force was to move South-East and attempt to bypass the valley. Our three-man squad tried to locate the rest of our team, but couldn't find them. When we attempted to radio for the location of an Embed, Triage, or anyone from Green's Army, information was either garbled or no one was able to properly answer our query. Our group huddled together and attempted to re-locate our team. We hiked East and ended up near the City Dump, where we again tried to radio for a location of our team, but to no avail. As we hiked around with our dead rags, we encountered many Tribal players and even some Black Shirts, but sadly, no one from Green's Army. After twenty minutes lost, hiking around bad terrain, nearly exhausted, we ended up finding Cookie and Taskforce 2 near the Matadi Village.

We plopped down at Triage, hydrated, and caught our breath. There was some discussion of whether we were done for the day or not, but after a short break we decided to push on. We would find out that the Tribals had forced a wedge into Green's Army and split the team in half. Task Force 2 had located a sample box near the village, and radioed ahead for the Collector. While we waited, Black Shirts flanked our position at the stone wall. An intense firefight ensued for the better part of an hour as we waited for the Collector to show. Each side fought inch by inch to try and get to the box, and eventually we were pushed to the bottom of the hill. We attempted one final push to get back up the hill, storming it with every available man. Eventually we did manage to collect the stamp and attempted to move on to a new location when we were hit by the Black Shirts again on route to our next location, wiping us out.

With little time left, Green's Army packed it in and began heading back to staging, as there wasn't much time left in the Phase. As we marched back to staging, we saw as the Black Shirts were swept into an ambush by Marxist forces. It was one of the cooler moments of the day. So we marched back down "Heatstroke Hill" and headed back to our car, where we dumped our gear and assessed our situation. We were all pretty strung out, sore and beat. At this point we had come to the realization that we weren't as prepared as we thought we were. So the group debated playing the second Phase, or calling it a day and hanging out for the duration. After much deliberation, two out of the three decided to give the second Phase a go. If the terrain was similar to what we encountered during the first Phase, we weren't going to make it far. So, we reloaded, rehydrated, geared up and headed back to staging.

Green's Army redeployed near Maha City and went to work. We took the city quickly, searched it, and moved on. We encountered little resistance as we searched the nearby woods near Pondo Valley. The Army moved quickly, over rough terrain, searching for the remaining samples. Our now two-man squad managed to keep up, even as the Army moved from location to location. We ended up circling back to the City Pipeline, with myself and my squadmate, Bullitt taking up a position in the nearby treeline, to watch our Teams flank.

We soon saw a Tribal patrol make their way back into the village in Maha City, and we moved to ambush. As we headed down, stalking closer, we could hear our forces engage another Tribal force at the Pipeline. Bullitt and I aborted our plan, and moved to reinforce the rest of the Army. Some of Green's Army were engaged the Tribal forces, refusing to withdraw despite orders to do so, and we were flanked by OD Mercs or Marxists and essentially wiped out. With Phase Two done we headed back to our car, satisfied from our long, tiring day. We packed up our gear and relaxed, taking in the rest of the property while we waited for the Epic Team Deathmatch to end.

Overall we had a good time, and likely will be back next year. Not to say everything went great. There were a couple of sour spots and hiccups. Our initial start point was a bit frustrating, as was being unable to locate our team or our triage and spending twenty minutes hiking around. Another hiccup were the radios. We were told for weeks prior and on game day CO's and Squad leaders were the only ones allowed on comms, to keep the channels free. That went out the window after about thirty minutes, then it seemed everyone was talking over each other, with little to no real information changing hands. There was even a twenty minute span where someone had a hot-mic issue that took forever to be resolved. Our CO's were awesome. Viper, Paladin, and Cookie especially. They made the day fun, despite all my previous mentions. 95% of the day was great, the other 5% was the more frustrating bits I mentioned above, but which didn't sour our feelings toward the bulk of the event.

A ton of thanks goes to Moondog for organizing this huge event. While most of it seemed as fun as herding cats, I thought most of the day went off without a hitch. Considering the sheer number of players and volunteers, it was truly something to behold. Thanks again to Cookie, Viper, Paladin and the rest of the guys from Green's Army. Thanks to Primer to taking a Metric F*-Ton of awesome pics of the day. Thanks to Evike for sponsoring this huge East Coast event. We will be back again next year for Bad Blood 2014, hopefully in better shape, now that we know what we're getting ourselves into.

Top Moments:

• Watching as our Ghillied teammate stalked a bunch of Tribals near Maha City.
• Epic firefight at the stone wall near Matadi Village.
• Ambushing Maha City.
• Hiking around with Green's Army.

Moments I wish were better:

• Becoming exhausted at the very start of the game because of the horrible terrain near Bula Highlands.
• Bad Radio chatter/ Hot-Mic
• Unable to get a location of my team via radio.
• Being lost for twenty minutes.
• Taking a header after tripping on a fallen tree (unharmed, but laughing) and having my pistol take a dirt nap.

Reaper is a member the GENERAL GREEN faction.

All photos of Bad Blood 2013 here are from Primer Productions.