Organizational matters

"Operation Christmas" is a relatively new creation. I would say, created this year and brad new, but this is not entirely true. For the last 9 years the event was known as "Christmas Combat", initially organized by the Black Legion and the All For One from Jarocin, was in turn taken over by JFA Nighthawks. The change of name is very good move in my opinion. Although the current name is less characteristic than the previous one, it is easier to pronounce and conjugate in Polish and besides, such a "polite" name (the word "Rozpierducha" is slang and mildly vulgar) does not deter potential sponsors and presents the organizer in a more serious light in contacts with the media. 

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

One thing did not changed - due to the time of year during which Operation Christmas is held, the weather is usually adverse. While in 2010 (which was the last time I took part in this event) we were struggling with the bitter cold which was "murdering" V2 gearboxes en mass, in 2017 we were welcomed by almost pre-spring thaws, dampness and all present mud. As it was expected and most players came prepared for such weather.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

What was nice was the fact that, despite moderately favorable conditions, the organizers stood up to the task. At 6:30 am, despite the pitch darkness, the registration was in full swing, the access road and the parking lot were marked and staffed by a team in reflective vests, and in the off-game zone there was a Christmas tree, the bonfire was giving light and warmth and the Christmas carols cheering everyone. All in all, everything buttoned up. Maybe except of chronograph testing, which was in a mess, but it was still only a nice addition to the whole.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

As for a game costing 20 PLN, the event seemed professionally prepared  from the very beginning. You could see the amount of work put in. In addition to participating in the game, the price also included accident insurance, a hot meal and the opportunity to participate in a prize draw funded by the sponsors and the JFA Nighthawks team membership fees. Where was even an Ambulance and a Fire Brigade present at the site.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

There was also a very extensive photo coverage, a tiny part of which is illustrating my literary struggles here. There were several photographers present, all of who made a collective amount of over a 1000 photos!

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

An important matter - the event was charitable one. At the base the players could leave plastic caps that were donated to the Ogród Marzeń foundation, to support one of their wards - Nikodem - in his fight against a severe illness. The goal was as noble. Perhaps organizers of larger airsoft events could take key form JFA Nighthawks, and also try to use our hobby to help others?

The game - the beginning

In this aspect I was not surprised. This is probably the first event in which I participated, where there were so few delays and where the game started ahead of time (sic!), going ahead of the organizer's schedule by a good half an hour. Considering that over 400 players participated in the game it is an impressive feat.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

A word about the game's mechanics itself. As you can guess the game, which for the past several years was called "Christmas Combat", is an event  where many things shouldn't be treated too seriously. Therefore, one side of the conflict was the "Rudolf's Gang" and on the other the "Bearded Man Slashers" and they have been slowly struggling for domination over Christmas for many years now. Many players approached the event in accordance with the game's concept, that is in a fully relaxed manned and for that they deserve everyone's respect.

In short - it was to be good, clean fun.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

Each side of the conflict had its indestructible super-soldier (for one team is was Santa Claus, the other team had the Snowman), which could be used to break the front lines at extremely hard to take sections. There were scattered presents in the field, which were to be delivered to the sides' respective bases for extra points. In several places, the organizers set up control points to be defended against the opposition.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

During the game there was also a niche way of respawning - to get back to the game it was necessary not only to reach the respawn point but to acquire a spare "soul" from there (for the purpose of the game, an empty bottle after an extremely sweet Mountain Dew), which was left by the player in the field in the place he/she was hit. The idea is interesting in itself, because after removing a key player, the odds shifted toward one of the teams at a double rate.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

Coming back to the fun - we started with a fast tour of the area of our base, heard a few words from our commander, were rapid divided into units (which will mostly fall apart for good after a few exchanges of BBs with our opponents) and that's was it. No questions. The game started. The first presents were collected. The first checkpoint was captured. First souls taken from the opposite side. It started well.

The game - fighting on

Despite the fact that I tried to pay attention at the briefing and read all the rules, a few issues were unclear to me. For some of the organizers, some information were also stuck somewhere in the middle of the communication chain. But these were all minor things. Let's focus on the shooting itself.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

After the initial attack with our allied forces, I had the idea of assessing our tactical situation. Unfortunately, the maps that we got did not include sites of the bases, the control points and other places important for the scenario. At first, even the commander did not know where he was. Just a detail, but I am a simple person and I like clear situations. Otherwise I feel like a child in a fog. Run there. Shoot here.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

After two hours all started to work out, but it would have worked out better with marked maps. The organizer's effort was a bit lacking in this regard, because some nice tasks were supposedly waiting for us at some points, and this way people either did not know about them or found out after the fact.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

All in all, as the missions are just an addition, the decisive pro for the event should be noted as every now and then there something was something to do. Either the opponent was approaching our base or we were flanking the opponent. If someone wanted to, he always found a job for himself. It was enough to move outside the staff tent and go in a random direction.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

In some places the game was intense. As I was taken out during the last attack when breaking the closing encirclement, I was left with only a half of a magazine in my gun. It's been a long time since I shot out so many BBs during one "life". It is true that in most cases the game looked quite static and skirmishes were fought on the edge of everyone's range, but this is the charm of winter time.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

From what I noticed, the "souls" did not function entirely as they should. I had the impression that there were far to many of them. Both of the respawn sites that I visited had a lot of them and yet, there were a lot of opponents in the field. It looked as if the organizer would pour some extra souls from time to time. By collecting these empty bottles, I sometimes had the impression that I went to a "Clean up the Forest" event with elements of airsoft. Collecting them after the "fallen" was frustrating in the long run and the fact the there were to many "souls" lay in the respawn areas, the next edition of the event should drop this feature.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

I am also afraid that it will be impossible to ever pick up all the bottles after the event. I myself have sometimes been take out in such places that I have serious doubts about it. Although I tried to put them away in visible places like the middle of a road or a protruding branch, I forgot about doing so a few times.

The game - the end

During airsoft games there are two universal laws: "wonderful people will save even the worst scenario, but weak people will spoil even the best game" and "several cheaters will effectively spoil a very cultural event". It was no different this time.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

Shortcomings will happen. Here, too, the scenario was not ideal, but without exaggeration - it was at least good, without any absurdity and the large and diverse forest area only helped in creating interesting maneuvers. Unfortunately, some participants have failed. Just some, because on both sides, there are a lot of great players, which can be seen in the photos. But it always the case that a wicked minority will destroys the joy of the game and thwart the long preparations of the organizers. And this is just sad.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

Mass accusations about not admitting hits were, are and will be an inseparable part of our hobby. During this event, I heard a lot of them, but it's winter in the end. Visibility was good, but on the way of the BBs there were a lot of small twigs deflecting their trajectory, adding to that thicker clothes and the fact that the game was played at a greater distance than in the summer, this causes that in the heat of battle might not feel a BB gently hitting your gear the edge of its range. Few people cheat deliberately. You have to take that into account, although sometimes I had doubts whether my replica's range was the same as a few hours ago.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

Colleagues equipped with scopes reported that in a few cases the opponents cheated with premeditation, and after reprimanding them they simply got up and ran away ... I met one or two myself, where putting a long burst into a crouching figure at 15-20 meters ended with a quick retreat of the seemingly "dead" player. I will not divulge further in other doubtful situations, but five such encounters in a row can spoil your fun really bad. Such is the charm of airsoft and you will either accept it or change your interests. It is impossible to eradicate bad habits from the environment. Playing game in a hermetic circle forever is also much so.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

It's good that the catering has prepared a mountain of bigos (a Polish dish of chopped meat of various kinds stewed with sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage) to calm everyone down.

Besides, on our side there probably also were muppets sparingly managing their honesty. I assume that as I was receiving long bursts each time when I was looking for a red piece of cloth in my pocket for more than 3 seconds. There is nothing to be surprised about. The cheaters' spiral winds up more and more during a scenario and many players fall into it. Especially at a massive, cheaper event, where there are many people with short-term experience.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

There were also incidents - someone shouted at us about using many vulgar words which I will not cite. It even came to blows when one of the players attacked my friend and knocked him over only because he did not allow to taken out with a "bang bang" at - as the organizer later concluded - seven meters. Some cheated with the "souls" in all possible ways.

I know that if someone does not know how to lose, he will resort to such pathetic plays, but still - be ashamed. I do not know how sad a life some of them have to have such a seriousness attitude towards running around the forest with a toy rifle firing plastic BBs.

The end

At the end of the event, a lottery with prizes, mentioned at the beginning of this text, took place. The main prize was a CA4 DELTA 12 replica funded by JFA Nighthawks, others were t-shirts, books and a lot of other general items. One shop went crazy and gave the organizers Leatherman Wingman multitools. JFA has to be a very resourceful team, since they managed to get these rewards.

Probably the last thing I won at the lottery was being asked question at the blackboard on a Biology lesson in high school. This time I also failed to win anything.

 photo Okiem Pryzmatu

I returned home in a somewhat ambivalent mood, though rather on the plus side. It was great to run, shoot and meet friends. It's a little less fun to get angry with cheaters and crookedness of other players. The organizes admitted that too many people are getting too wound up during the game, therefore admits that "there are problems during the game" and promised to "work" on the subject. I keep my fingers crossed for their success!

In addition to the fact that such a sad malcontent as myself had to point out something, many participants really enjoyed it. And that's what it's all about. There is always room for improvement and simply remember not to be complacent, as the event has enormous potential.

Let there be as many as well-organized events in Poland as this one!

And as for the cheaters, I wish that the "Last Christmas" song will loop endlessly in their headphones.

I would like to thank Okiem Pryzmatu for agreeing to use his photos.