INTRODUCTION
AEGIS V (Unplugged) is another event from the series of games organized by Legion Pretorians. It is easy to see that it is the fifth one. AEGIS Unplugged is a combination of many types of events: there are elements of mil-sims, (light) survival and a regular game focused on tasks. This edition of the event took place between May 25-27 on the grounds of the former military training area near Ostróda. The game lasted 48 hours. An important and distinctive part of the game was a lake, dividing the playing field across.
GAME SETTING AND INITIAL INFORMATION
The organizers of the game, the already mentioned Legion Pretorians group, is a team originating from paintball, which they started playing in 2002. A few years ago, they also went into airsoft. They were famous for organizing large paintball games called Saltus, numbering 20 editions. Many AEGIS participants are veterans of those events.
The term "Unplugged" means that as long as flashlights are allowed, optoelectronics is forbidden - that is, first of all, night vision and thermovision, but also (which has been clarified by the organizer) reflex sights, lasers and scopes. As it is now difficult to get a good airsoft scope without a illuminated reticle, it caused a slight nervousness among snipers, but eventually such scopes were allowed by without batteries. It was also forbidden to use the so-called GPS locators, but other GPS systems (whether in devices or in smartphones) were allowed. But mobile phones could not be used for communication.
As for the other rules, the magazines were loaded up to 1.5 of the capacity of the real firearm equivalent, hitting rules were simplified (if you got into the body or in the head - you were dead, if elsewhere, you can be treated). Such rules would indicate the the game to be a mil-sim or rather a semi mil-sim, but on the other hand, they were an hour long respawns, and the wounded heal themselves. After "killing" an opponent, you could search him (along with taking in-game items), but due to the short period of time (5 min.) it was not used very widely. Also, I have not heard of any use of the rules concerning taking prisoners, but of course this could have happened. As you can see, it is difficult to place AEGIS on the mil-sim/semi mil-sim/regular game scale. As if I were to judge it myself, I would place it in the middle between a regular game and a semi mil-sim, but it is perfectly understandable if someone wants to put it in a different category.
What introduced a light element of survival was the fact that it was not possible to take things to the HQ earlier (which performed the function of a campsite) and that returning to the car park resulted in exclusion from further play. In other words, you could only use what was put in the playing field at the start. This principle caused a lot of controversy because the organizers forgot to announce it early enough - those players who went to AEGIS for the first time learned about it a week and a half before the event itself. When they pointed out that such information should be given in advance (because it should - it has a big influence on how to prepare for the event), they were attacked (mildly speaking) by some of the veterans. The organizers themselves admitted that this time they did not inform about it and proposed a "compromise" (bringing spare replicas and repair tools to the HQ).
In practice, the moment when you could roll a trailer onto the playing field (which my group did), the elements of survival had a strongly reduced impact on the game. In theory, according to the rules (although certainly not in their spirit) ordering 10 pizzas to the game area (unfortunately no Hawaiian) by one of the platoons was allowed. While writing this report I had the impression that the effect of such activities was that the main game began 3 hours later, because those first hours were devoted to reaching the camp and setting up the tents.
The scenario itself assumed a clash of two main parties (about 130 players each) called Naming and Bałutyja - and 2 smaller parties (about 10 people each): pirates, and Dr. Cola and his bodyguards. The pirates were supposed to disrupt other players activities, and the Doctor was the source of numerous additional tasks. As for the tasks themselves, they could be divided into two types. On the one hand, located mainly on the south side of the lake, there were a lot of typical airsoft tasks like holding strategic points, destroying enemy points, taking parcels from points at a specified time. These tasks consisted mainly of logistical support - the "helicopter" landing pad and the port used to transfer people to the other side of the lake were the points to be captured and held. The "packages", aka large bottles with "oil", served as payment for those transfers. In the north side of the lake there were more story based tasks: meeting the Doctor's dressed up in OP-1 hazmat suits, drone landing, obtaining a virus, etc.
As for the lake, at the beginning my group had sincere hope to witness fighting between destroyers. In practice, however - for safety reasons - the lake was just to a water obstacle, which had to be overcome - whether by car (in the south you had to control the landing field) or by boat (control of the port was needed). All fighting on water was forbidden - a pity, but the decision is understandable and reasonable. The risk of an accident was quite high.
FRIDAY BEFORE THE GAME
I came to the game site 3 hours before the start (that is at 9). Registration itself was one of the fastest I've ever seen - mainly because all were registered not so much individually but as groups. According to the organizers about 250 players took part in the game. An interesting option was the fact that if someone did not have an orange vest, he could get one. That mean that, in theory, no one had an excuses if he used a bad vest color (of course some did).
Each player had to go through a muzzle velocity check. And here a problem appeared. The chronograph used by the organizers was producing strange readings - a colleague who had 560 fps (it was confirmed immediately on two other chronographs, including the second owned by the organizers), showed 650 fps. For a few other colleagues, the results were to low. On the other hand, if it was not for one of the player's intervention, the organizers would allow a non-compliant replica into the game (sniper replicas were to be semi-auto only). At 11 an gathering took place, at which the organizers explained the rules of the game (including those connected with boats) to about 150 participants and asked that people be nice to each other :).
Below is a description of the game. As my group fought on the side of Bałucja, this description will be written mainly from the point of view of this side of the conflict. I know much better what Balucja did. However, I do not know everything that happened on Bałucja's side - there may be some mistakes here, for which I am sorry. In the description of the activities, there will also be the names of the Bałucja's platoons - at the end, I will tell which groups were included in the individual platoons.
GENERAL REMARKS REGARDING THE GAME
Below you will find a lot of negative comments, anger, etc. It does not change the fact that the whole event was very successful and everyone in my group came back with big smiles on their faces. To our surprise, AEGIS seemed to us then more than worth the trip. The organizers (which were numerous), really put a lot of enthusiasm into the game to make it happen and be enjoyable. A lot of tasks, lots of great fights, lots of opportunities for great action during the day and at night, and an opportunity camp with your buddies, a few dozen kilometers traveled on foot - what more could you want?
One of the things that the organizers did not have influence on was the weather. And the weather was not fine. Rain, or even thunderstorms had a huge impact on the gameplay and how it was conducted - in particular, the storm that on Friday afternoon and the storm on Saturday night. The rain was so intense that even those who were preparing for rainy weather had problems. The berries that were growing in Balucja's HQ were able to make good boots, impregnated just before departure, soaking wet after walking just 50 meters in them. In practice, the game on Saturday night halted.
The game area was around 17 square kilometers. As it is easy to guess, it means that the vast majority of players made tens of kilometers on foot and most of the contacts took place around the points.
Another issue to be addressed here are the so-called desertions meaning leaving the game before the end. Although they happen every event and there are always fewer people playing at the end than at the beginning (once I was on an event, where the whole opposing force deserted :) ) and although I was at events where this problem was more serious, it can not be overlooked in case of this event as it was important. In this respect, I would place AEGIS on a podium. The reasons for the early leave from the game were different - many cease to play due to poor preparation for the game or physical and mental exhaustion. However, some people quit due to frustration at the organizers and leadership - for example due to the situation related to the FOB tapes.
And since these tapes have already been mentioned - this situation happened a few times when the technical issues were put in front of having fun. A good example are these tapes, which were to be used to mark an offgame area in the north. In theory, the team starting the game in the north should get it at the very beginning. In practice, this did not happen and for 12 hours the players dealt with a minor issue, that is, they tried to determine where it is and bring it to the right place.
In theory, the organizers had an interesting idea with the competition for the king of shooters, which was connected with getting tokens collected from corpses. In practice, it turned out to be problematic - not only was this competition not resolved, but it also led to a huge number of arguments and quarrels about the time each player had to stay in one place, and the fact that people forgot to get new tokens.
And since we are talking about the quarrels, the report from the event would not be complete without stating that there were exceptionally many of them. On the battlefield, the accusations of fraud flew both ways extremely often.
A report from any event would not be entirely complete without a description of one of the most important things affecting the reception of the game - that is, the command. In the case of AEGIS, this applies to the two main parties, namely Bałutcja and Nazew. In both cases, the commanded were players who volunteered themselves. In Bałucja, it was Magnes and Burdel (ang. Magnet and Brothel), and in the case of Nazew Magnus and Skóra (ang. Skin). I can honestly say that the command came out well on the Bałucja's side. The whole environment needed for a mil-sims - structure of units, communication, changing of radio channels, encryption, a map, a false map etc. - was there and functioned well. If I had objections to something, it was to the fact that the encryption and issues related to the radio communication were settled just two days before the game and also to the fact that there were often situations where the command changed orders too often. Therefore, when on Friday night we left the HQ to destroy the enemy port, within 20 minutes the orders changed three times - first we were ordered to take back our port, along with the Baron unit, then we were told that the Baron unit will take the port back by itself and we were to destroy the enemy port and finally we were told to take the enemy port together with Baron and Leonard units and then we would go to the enemy port. To make it clear, the situation in the field was did not change during this time. In case of Nazew, from numerous sources available, it appeared that the situation was not so good and many people were not satisfied with the situation there.
THE GAME
FRIDAY
The game began at 12. The action plan of our side was simple at the beginning - a single team in the north was to recon the area and built an FOB, a few teams performed tasks on the south side like securing Oil Field No.2 and the Port. However, most of the forces decided to go to the HQ and build a base there. There are many indications that Nazew used a similar tactic.
Our group got the order to secure Oil Field No.2. In practice, most people from our group went to the camp with a trailer, but a small unit went for the fuel. The point was found - unfortunately, the fuel was supposed to appear at 18:00. We wrote down the fuel arrival hours, as well as the exact coordinates of the point (which later turned out to be important) and waiting out the storm in a bower that was at the point, we went back to the base.
In the meantime, the base was set up and more teams began to set off to complete various tasks. This resulted in the first major clash at Oil Field No.1, where the enemy attacked the field but was pushed back by the Angel platoon which, at that time, came from the HQ. Nazew, however, took the oil barrels during the engagement.
Before this clash at Oil Field No.1 was resolved, my group was reinforced by a unit from Leonard. Originally, the orders were retake the field, but when the clash report reached the HQ, they were changed to go there and coordinate with the local troops to "capture as many as barrels of oil from Fields No.1, 3 and maybe 2 at 18 o'clock".
On the spot, Angel platoon told us that they could deal with barrels from Field No.1, Leonard unit joined the Baron unit there with the task to take the port, and we got the order to go to Field No.2. On the way to this Field we had 2 contacts (winning both but in the second case it was a Pyrrhic victory), so we arrived at the point 20 minutes after the 18 o'clock. Luckily, the opponents, who were at the spot, did not take the barrel, they only dug in. We assaulted them causing heavy losses (but we did not wipe them out) after which we withdrew to the HQ together with a barrel of oil.
At that time, the Angel platoon did the same. Baron unit, which had the task of clear the port from mines, did not fit in the time window, so we did not get any points for it. In the north, Maria unit had problems with setting up the starting FOB because it did not have the tape needed. It could not do tasks related to the Doctor without their OP-1 hazmat suits.
Nazew, on the other hand, he set up the port before the time limit and also an FOB in the north, and above all else, it got more barrels of oil. In other words, it was Nazew who took the lead.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Friday night was the time when the Nazew was to do its most crucial task - to secure the landing pad and bring its scientist (who was supposed to land on the landing pad) to the base. The task was worth 550 points for them, and if we could prevent it, we could get 200 points. For comparison, the tasks that you could get from the Doctor were worth 50 points, the barrel of oil or the destruction of the landing pad were worth 10 points. In other words, the tasks related to the scientist were evaluated against a different scale and were decisive for the result.
For this reason, our command had taken a number of actions to make sure that Nazew would not complete this task. They sent additional troops to the north (including Angel platoon, which had extensive experience in night battles), which were to find and destroy the enemy airstrip. We, in turn, were assigned a task to destroy the enemy port and the helicopter landing field and thus prevent the scientist from being delivered to the south, even if he managed to land.
When we left, we were joined by a team from Baron platoon who had another task. Along the way, the task changed a few times, but eventually we got an additional one to take our port back with Baron and the Leonard teams. After doing this, the team from Baron got a different task, and the team from Leonardo went for a well-deserved rest. We went to the side where the enemy port was supposed to be. And for the next 2 hours we tried to find it in the local bushes and swamps. When this failed, we destroyed the enemy helicopter landing pad, took oil from the oil field and found a chemical formula for one of the tasks given by the Doctor.
At that time, the Angel found and eliminated the hostile FOB in one quick blow. As it turned out after the game, the opponents did not attempt to complete the task with the landing field, perhaps just because of the destruction of the FOB. Maria finally got the tape to set up our FOB (which it did in the morning for tactical reasons), and the Eagle platoon made contact with the Doctor and received tasks from him. In the south Baron traveled to accomplish this task (as well as gain oil).
I am not sure what the Nazew were doing at the time, but it was certainly less active, which made the night belong to Bałucja.
SATURDAY DAY
The morning greeted us in such a way that Nazew took over our landing field and so at early morning it was being retaken by, among others, Angel platoon. In addition, the headquarters opted to perform tasks from the Doctor on one side, on the other to prepare for the night, when this time it was we who were supposed to have a task with the landing of a scientist. And so large forces were sent to the other side of the lake again. More than three platoons operated in the North. Also, the commander had to go to the North side to finish the task for the Doctor there.
A lot was also happening with the pirates. They blocked the landing of Angel platoon to force an agreement of non-aggression with us. They obtained it, but before it was possible to give information about it to all the units, Maria (which, because of the distance, had problems with communication) smashed the pirates, and thus invalidated the pact.
In turn Nazew, although it also undertook to do tasks for the Doctor, played aggressively on the south side, strongly attacking our airstrip and port. It also visited the oil field more times. Bałucja also attempted an attack - Leonard's platoon won the port. Unfortunately, they forgot to note it on a special sheet, therefore it was not accounted for by the organizers.
My group, except for one run for a barrel of oil (3 in total) from Field No.2, spent the day retaking the landing pad (once by 10 and once by 16 o'clock) and the port. The latter was captured by the Nazew, as a result of a large offensive near 18 o'clock.
Although it is difficult to estimate exactly how many points the two sides have won, Nazew effectively paralyzed Bałucja's activities in the south.
SATURDAY NIGHT
This time our site had a task with a scientist. And the command took it seriously. On Saturday afternoon forces were moved to the north to secure the landing field. The platoon chosen for that was appointed one week before the event so they could get ready. In the HQ, even those more tired the game, volunteered go to defend the helicopter landing pad.
Then the rain fell. The rain effectively reduced the activities for a few hours. In the north, Bałucja attempted to do the task with a scientist, but due to random causes, 2 people familiar with the procedure were absent from the landing pad. Therefore, the task was only partially carried out and only part of the points went to Bałucja's account. In the South there was even less going on.
That being said, there were 3 players from my group who, after midnight and only with handguns went into the operation area in the rain. The idea was simple: in such a rain everyone just dug in and thus the three of them could act without being troubled. They brought a lot of oil, destroyed the enemy port and airstrip. Three of them did the tasks that the command had allocated to over 30 people at 4 o'clock that morning.
Regardless of everything else, as with the previous night, this one also belonged to Bałucja.
SUNDAY
At the end, both parties got two big tasks. Obtaining the Virus and obtaining and planting an atomic bomb, which was to exploded at 12 o'clock. Both tasks were highly scored. To prevent the destruction of our landing pad, the command delegated considerable manpower to defend it - among others, my group and Angel platoon. Before we started defending it, we had to retake it, which we did.
The bomb was taken over by Nazew, so we were getting ready for an even bigger assault. There were at least three platoons assigned to the defense. At this stage, it meant about 50 people. When the expected attack of the enemy came, it turned out to be a slight disappointment, because the Nazew threw about 5 people at our defense. As it is easy to guess they were wiped out.
As for the virus, it was taken over by a unit from Leonard (supported, among others, by one player from my group). A GPS locator was attached to the virus, so they had to flee quickly. They managed to get to the boat, literally a few moments before opponents appeared on the shore. Unfortunately, the landing on the second shore was delayed by the civilian boat which was not part of the game, which gave the pirates and Nazew time to prepare for the takeover of the virus. Ultimately, the pirates took it.
Bałucja's Order of Battle
EAGLE Platoon - Teams: OSA - GOCI/LEGION T/FOREST HUNTERS/COBRA - 20 players
ANGEL Platoon - Teams: Sniezna Pantera/SGR/Podpalacze Mostów - 24 players
MARIA Platoon - Teams: Spezial Gruppe 3/BDSM69/Straszydło/MAG - 26 players
BARON Platoon - Teams: GBS/Czarny Kot/PSF/SRU - 29 players
LEONARD Platoon - Teams: Legion Chotomów/Zen Fighters - 19 players
PHILOSOPHER Platoon - Teams: ASG-Olsztyn i w teorii BRT- 15 players (my platoon)
Total: 133 players
Nazew's Order of Battle
MSORT Alpha Detachment
NAMS
Monolit
Expendables
P4F (Golden Badge)
OTW2 (Golden Badge)
2nd CEB (Golden Badge)
COLT (Golden Badge)
Blackfield
M.A.G
SMOG
SFORA
Łowcy Jeleni
TF5
Banda
SNOWN
Furio
M.A.T. Łódź (Golden Badge)
RESULTS
The game was over. Both sides have chosen a different style of play. By unofficial results (and not final ones, because the sides were yet to submit corrections to them) Nazew had a considerable advantage (almost double) in terms of the number of barrels with oil obtained. It also had more points for destroying ports, a helicopter landing pad and FOBs, but here the advantage was not too big to be decisive.
In turn, Bałucja had the advantage in the number of tokens won on the opponent, but above all had a huge number of points for the task related to the landing of the scientists - Nazew had zero. For the remaining tasks, both sides had more or less the same number of points.
Why am I giving unofficial game results? The organizers did not include the scores in the official results of the game and instead disqualified both sides for a serious violations of the rules concerning stay in a forest. This decision sent a strong signal that the organizers did not like many things. Their position was mainly based on two issues: lighting bonfires in the forest and littering.
The organizers found three fires in the forest. In two cases they were able to establish the guilty and punished appropriate teams. Interestingly, or rather stupidly, one of the punished teams ignited the second bonfire, after it had received the first warning. For the lighting of a single bonfire, the SGR team got a ban for one edition, and for lighting firing two bonfires, the SNOW team got banned for the two editions.
In addition, the organizers stated that at the sight both FOBs (to be completely neutral I must add that teams from our FOB claim that it was cleaned after the end of the game) and at the oil fields they found a lot of garbage. During the game, instead of exchanging containers at the oil fields, they were carrying out garbage. As they could not find one particular team (or rather teams, because it was probably not one group that walked and left garbage at all the points), they decided to punish all players collectively and disqualify everyone.
As it is easy to guess, that decision aroused much controversy. On the one hand, many people supported it (publicly), on the other hand, many people expressed their bitterness against it (mainly in private messages).
I have very mixed feelings about the event. On the one hand, I understands the organizers. They emphasized that littering is not and will never be accepted. While organizing many local games, I often felt frustrated that some people are so tired that they can not pick up an empty bag of BBs.
On the other hand, no the people littering by everyone was punished, also teams that cleaned the HQ camp not only after themselves, but also after others. The message they have received from the organizers was clear - it does not matter that you cleaned all the garbage, you are also responsible for littering.
Lack of a summary of tasks by the organizers makes the whole event seem not officially closed. This is what was really lacking.
SUMMARY
The AEGIS V (Unplugged) event is difficult to remain indifferent to. On the one hand, it had very good and challenging gameplay, on the other hand, it had ambiguous rules before the event and the controversial result after the game. The organizers really did a lot to make their game stand out :)
Personally, I consider the question whether I will go to the next edition as a good measurement of the game's rating. In my group, just after the end of the event, a chorus of voices said "yes". However, I have the impression that after the decision of the organizers was announced, these voices diminished, though most of them are interested to go there again.
