Glad you both enjoyed it.
Of course although I tend to be the mouthpiece for these games, we had a team of five guys working the strings behind the game, so its very much down to all their combined skills and they are Okto Eight.
Milsim is very different to skirmish and its not for everyone. Its not non-stop action but neither is real life combat.
I think the worst thing you can get is dyed in the wool skirmishers being pushed into doing milsim - they hate it. We try to make it very clear what you're getting. We don't want unhappy people at our games.
In terms of the MDF being outnumbered, I have received various comments from players about this. One player even said that he doesn't expect to spend £60 to be outnumbered in this way.
Without exception all these comments came from players who were either doing milsim for the first time or didn't play the previous op with us.
While we do our best to maintain customer satisfaction, these things do happen in real life.
As to the comment that the government should have the best equipment and troop numbers, in the story leading up to Op Tailspin, the research establishment was a forward operating base which was both isolated because of the nature of its work and low key. The government believed the camp to be a secret and only had a minimal guard covering it. Big assets draw big attention.
The SF destroyed the Early Warning Radar very early in the game and employed a jammer to cut off the government troops from calling for reinforcements.
Furthermore, four government soldiers, demoralised and beaten decided to defect to the rebels, again not uncommon in the real world.
This did leave the MDF with a smaller side on the Sunday afternoon. Calls for artillery barrages were responded to, but there is always a lag and the artillery were told to stand down as it was too late. A Moldistan helicopter did respond and made it to the MDF FOB where it was destroyed by rebel ground fire (the vehicle still has the burn marks on the paintwork). A QRF in DPM also made a mobile rocket attack on the village just before ENDEX to assist the MDF, but alas to no avail.
Its never nice to lose due to an imbalance in forces, but those players that played both ops will testify that its a long game played over a series rather than one weekend and there are peaks and troughs in the fortunes of all engaged forces.
At Op Skylight for example, the MDF were victorious - they protected the President from assassination twice and the rebels were forced to maintain a running, harrying battle of ambushes and sabotage.
At the end of this OP, The CO of the MDF, a two game veteran, just shrugged, shook hands and is now looking forward to the next game. You might lose the battle, but you can still win the war.
BB - your suggestion of reduced ammo limits for one side is a good one. We can use that if there are ever unequal sides on a level footing and WE WILL.
BC - in terms of hay bales, we supplied your camp with sandbags and the CO knew we could arrange a delivery of sand or aggregate to allow you to fill those and construct fortifications.
Just like real conflicts, there is a lot that goes on that the average squaddie doesn't see or know about. For example, did you know about the jammer or the fact that the rebels were using a satphone to coordinate with an unseen secret western intelligence agency ?
Things will be different again in the next game - different site, different challenges, new players and four forces instead of three. The only real continuity is the storyline. Newspaper articles are already springing up on the Okto Eight Facebook page. These stories are a direct result of the actions you fought in !!
Lastly, you both fought with the MDF. I received several comments from the directing staff concerning how disciplined and professional the MDF seemed, particularly in their convoy escort.
I was driving in that convoy and was impressed. One of your number is a pilot in real life and I was further impressed when he waved the helicopter in with the appropriate arm signals.
Just what you would expect from a regular army. In contrast, the rebels, although successful and large in number, fought like, well REBELS.
One word: AWESOME
