IRONHORSE II AAR

[rviehmann 22]

Name: Rich Viehmann

Call Sign: RV

COST: Yankee 3

Role: Medic

 

 

 

Ironhorse began with most of our squad leaving St. Louis Thursday Night 18:00 Hours and driving straight through to Perry, GA. We arrived 10:00 and were allowed to check in earlier to our hotel, Comfort Inn at Perry GA. Hotel was nice with good breakfast, clean facilities, and nice pool. At 12:00 we arrived on Site and were allowed to drop gear in the staging area and begin the registration process. Check In went smoothly and chronoing rifles only took a few minutes to process through. This allowed us time to have all gear re-picked up and the car parked in the parking lot. Safety briefing was coming up shortly but allowed us time to check out vendor row and pick up swag, and do some shopping with Xtreme Airsoft for supplies. We then checked in for the Safety Briefing and went through about 30 Minutes of updates to rules and some clarification. Finished up everything on site and were able to get off site and prepare for the following day.

 

Saturday started out great and was glad we made the first round of cars able to drop off gear before the decision was made to keep vehicles out. I understand the reasoning for this as nothing is worse than ruining not being invited back more than for rutting up a yard or such. Faction brief was a little chaotic and disorganized but no better or worse than normal. Morning brief was good and we loaded up to be dropped at the fob. We made the first bus and were unloaded at the North East end of the facility. We unloaded our gear and then unloaded others gear that was preloaded. Got everything up and running, did a quick pass through of extras on person, and staged at FOB for entry into the AO. Three MICs out we could all feel the flush of energy and adrenaline pushing through our system ready to charge the road. YUK soon announced one MIC out and chants began and ended in VICTORY. I did like the motivation he presented in the final 30 seconds proclaiming today is our day and this is our story to write. We determine the outcome. With images of buildings peaking over the treetops you knew it was going to be a great day. The ran didn't dampen any spirits and ended shortly after index to a great day. Yankee 3 was charged with capturing Building 39, The Post Office and providing QRF. Day ran smooth slowly moving through and having Command task us with various support missions. Myself being a Medic in the role allowing for a lot of transition from gun up to holding location behind cover providing aid. Day transitioned into night and around 20:00 a large amount of both COST and UFS feel off to fatigue and the darkness. With limited targets this opened up the AO to easier movement but more delicate decision to not be attacked form the shadows. We ended it outside building 39 trading shots with UFS and closed index with handshakes and the long walk back to the FOBs discussing how the day had gone and what tomorrow would hold.

 

Sunday started out a little smoother than Saturday and briefing was good with again some safety updates so everyone was more clear the rule changes. It was clear Saturday had a toll and numbers were down on both sides. Onsite after transport our day began very similar to Saturday and took building 39. UFS pushed fast and took building 34 cutting the intersection entering the center of town into a death funnel. We defended this position before breaking into fire teams and suppressing building 34 from three sides. After gaining the building we continued pushing hard eventually pushing UFS back to the rubble and tunnel system. They kept us moving around as new forces entered the AO and caused fire teams to shift and roll through various buildings to hold the push.

 

Overall the AO was amazing and even having the buildings cut down to only two stories it played very well. I understand the logic in this to keep select buildings from controlling the entirety I still wish a few buildings would have been three stories just to offer some vertical engagements and transition. I'll play here again given the opportunity. UFS fought hard and among my fellow COST never heard any complaints besides sore feet.

 

Sierra Dynamics, Awesome to play alongside you and against you. Nothing better than having you watching our six and twenty minutes later putting together a plan to crush you. Plus you had great Candy. Best exchange of the day occurred when we exited the the tunnels south of 21and a member of our squad began exchanging F U Kaid. Kaid exited building 21 and Delbs began a tactical knife fight ending in a exchange of laughs. Loved the idea of bartering with them and having them assist both sides depending on circumstances. Well played you guys and glad to have you on site.

 

Good Points:

- Weather worked out great

- Beautiful AO

- Excellent Job from AMS and game control running the facility

- AO played great and offered something for everyone

- COST command did great communicating

- Glad to see more vendors onsite - Adds to registration and getting there Friday to make new friends and meet up with olds. Plus everyone loves swag

- Tunnel being playable with DMR and LMG

- 700 players never made the AO feel small

 

OK Points:

- Wish we had a few buildings to play a more vertical transition beyond the second level. Maybe make some missions vs Sierra or box off certain windows to keep them unshootable. It was just phone clearing first to second floor. Extending beyond would have been nice.

- Transport for COST to Fob - first day was bad for those that preloaded gear and didn't get a ride along. As it was a Cluster F for those that arrived later and had to piece together were everything was

- Points and questions about kills - knife, grenades, and searches being addressed at the first Safety Briefing but having a feeling they weren't addressed at the others. if they were addressed this is why players need to keep there traps shut and attend. I get it they are boring and if we have been to one then we have been to all right... WRONG new information is passed along at every OP I've been to and knowing the changes has aided my squad and allowed us to play better through the event. This op had some special points with safety and they needed to be followed. Final note if you complain the safety briefing is long winded please remember AMS has to repeat its 6-8 times per event answering the same questions over and over and over again. Show them the respect they show us by putting these events on.

 

Negative Points:

- Players entering the AO before attending the safety briefing. We walked the AO right after the first safety briefing and the one hot spot Bo addressed was DO NOT enter the rubble. Yes it looks killer to play in and that was because it was. Those buildings were not structurally sound and were off limits. I saw multiple people on the site without first going through the brief. If you love these ops then respect the rules. It takes on A hole to get hurt and we no longer get invited back or worse a lawyer puts short work to ending these events for everyone.

- First time players not arriving prepared for the event. You can't babysit every player but if you've never played an event like this most come ill prepared. This leads to people falling out and or exiting the sport all together. Airsoft is filled with some of the best people I've ever meet and some of the most elitist pricks. Be a mentor when you can it only makes this more community. I also think AMS should dedicate or attach a first timers what to bring to every ticket purchased email. I get it if you understand and this is your 100th airsoft event than just disregard. When entering the sport if I wouldn't have had someone help me with gear, what to bring, and how to be prepared I would have been lost and made some of the same mistakes.

- The walk to the Fobs. Even being trucked in I wish the Fobs could have been pushed in a bit. The walk sucked and think it took a toll on people.

- Lack of cover in some areas. Everyone I spoke with wished there would have been a few more cars in the tunnels, streets, and on the perimeters. I found certain building to building engagements could have been made more fun with some strategic elements in the road providing limited cover but at least some cover of approach. Range was just being maxed on some engagements which led to the typical THEY WEREN'T CALLING THEIR HITs. I hear this from both sides and no one besides the participants could police it.

-huge pet peeve. We are all grown ass adults or close to being in age. Pick up your trash. I helped police around our Fob where I could but after the raffle glass bottles left behind, paper, etc etc. if you left stuff and you know who you are please invite the AMS staff to your place so they may trash it and let you pick up. Nothing besides safety not being taken serious will close and event AO then the place being used as a dump site. Man up and throw your shit away!

 

Overall a great event and I thank everyone involved. The players were great, the weather worked out perfect, and AMS always works their ass off to make sure it runs. Hats off to everyone.

[RCASpenc 2]

I was a first timer on the UFS side. I arrived and checked in Friday (which I loved the option to do that was there, great job AMS). Saturday I chrono'd and attended the brief. The weather was spotty, with rain falling every so often. When I was trying to form up into squads, it was kind of ridiculous how everyone was just blindly searching for the guys they've never met. The guy next to me didn't have anyone from his squad around at all, and had to lone wolf. My squad, however, was led by a guy who was also a first timer, and had no real experience. I'll get back to this.

We started out for the FOB, and I didn't mind the hike too much. I helped set up our command tent and got ready to fight. Our goal was to take a set of buildings inside the city. We planned our route and got on it. The game started, and everything was going great until my squad started disintegrating under the weak leadership we had. By halfway through the day, half my squad had disappeared. My squad wasn't the only ones disappearing, my team was slowly thinning out. By the afternoon, there was a noticeable difference in the size of the UFS troops.

The thinning out of guys wasn't a big deal, except those who stayed were completely useless. Half our team was sitting in our FOB, talking about pointless things. I had to fix my gun once, and during the time I had to stay in the base, I witnessed a 20-30min conversation between a huge group of guys and our commander about full seal goggles. Not how we could take back building X. Not how we could flank. They were weighing the pros and cons of full seal goggles while our team was getting stomped. And they're hardly the only example. There was tons of dudes with their Gucci delta seal whatever kits sitting on their boxes, checking their Instagram. It was ridiculous, and the fact nobody wanted to actually fight left us guys still going out into the field unable to do anything because we had no backup and no medics.

Speaking of people not doing anything, it would be nice if we were given real objectives besides "go kill bad guys" by our commander. He's a nice guy, but in my opinion was more interested in socializing than putting a strategy to win us the game. I admired how well COST command structure put their plans into motion, and wish UFS had the right command and the troops to do it.

The UFS troops, besides being straight up unwilling to fight, had no balls to actually take new buildings, which was a huge reason we lost. Every time we took a building, we'd get all content and not bother taking another one, and be too scared to rush it. I was totally down, but it's not like me and my shrinking-by-the-minute squad could take a whole building by ourselves. We needed backup.

I never actually understood the role of the SD guys in this Op, so if someone wants to explain that feel free. I only saw them leaning out of windows and throwing skittles at people lol.

The actually subway tunnel was interesting. I got caught up there multiple times. The rules said you can't shoot in it, but you can shoot through it. I had people stand in the doorframe of the tunnel, so they were really close to not being in the tunnel, but still were, and shooting me. I was under the impression that was not allowed. Next year all I ask is that either you clearly define all possible scenarios, or just let us shoot inside it.

I know this is a lot, but there was a lot to talk about. I only say all this to add constructive criticism and comments of my personal experience. While I wasn't blown away, I still liked this first AMS event of mine, and fully plan to return next year for IH3, only on COST, because they seem to have it together. If UFS changes, however, I'd totally fight for the #UFSWARMACHINE

[Schembre91 14]

Gonna keep it short and sweet for the AMS staff reading:

 

Good points:

• Great player attitude (chatted up some UFS while dead, was a good time)
• Amazing AO as always
• Extended perimeter to the AO for better flanking options
• Great communication on Staff and command end (kept things running super smooth)
• New missions and faction! What?! Never engaged them but saw them and it changed my pacing around them for sure

Bad points:

• The camping locations (Walks to and from were grueling, at the very least for the players who have to walk a mile and a half back to their camp to refill air or take a breather w/o fear of getting shot)
• Lack of Any overhead cover at CosT FOB (lots of soaked gear and salty players before the game even started)
• Closed off floors? (why even do this? my best highlights from last year were clearing multiple floors then holding buildings, I understand game balancing but there are gameplay elements you can do to alleviate this rather than closing off AO)
• Vehicles (I know this isn't staff, But man vehicles at this AO would be stellar | #SovereignFury)
• Lastly troop transport (Broken Home is awesome about having vehicles driving troops around to and from FOBs this helps players stick around longer without having to walk miles back to camp) 

Needless to say I love AMS and this AO so see you all next year! 8/10

P.S. What would it take to get Chopper at this AO?

[Twitch_MA 13]

 

• Closed off floors? (why even do this? my best highlights from last year were clearing multiple floors then holding buildings, I understand game balancing but there are gameplay elements you can do to alleviate this rather than closing off AO)

 

I believe this was because those floors were set up for real world training in such a way that they would not be safe for us to be playing in. Remember, Guardian is a real world training facility/business first and an airsoft field second. Not to say that this wasn't a bit of a bummer, but I was happy enough to be able to play there that I personally didn't mind a few closed-off floors too much.

[The Rick 238]

Good points and appreciate the feedback.  Many of your questions have been address and will take your feedback seriously.

[Callsign-Hammer 22]

Glad to see staff look at feedback! That gives a really good impression on me.

[jdelbs18 97]

AMS staff is top notch. I would never doubt them for a second.

Link to my AAR. I like to write them and let them sit and then go back and I think this sums up my overall goodness

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10L7lt5EqQPR5pX1SwRp3aU-naUGLOEZ5n6nokpK5YMM/edit?usp=sharing

[VoodooFDF 3]

Ironhorse 2 AAR

 

This was my first AMS game, my first milsim game, and my first airsoft game! The event was incredible, the AO was amazing. I had a rough time, with some amazingly bad luck and circumstances, and yet it was a blast!

 

I found IronHorse videos in January, and signed up, with no guns, no gear. Much of my stuff arrived on Friday, including my batteries and BBs. One of my rifles was supposed to be 420 fps, but with no chrono, I had no idea. So I swapped springs in the gearbox at midnight Sat morning. The wife decided to try her gear that night too...Lol, we all know you dont just put on gear and go, so she spent hours getting fitted while I dove in a V3 gearbox and hop up upgrade. With no sleep we headed to Perry Ga.

 

DONT ARRIVE LATE!! We did, and played catch up all day. First we missed the safety meetings. Fortunately we werent alone, but I saw how it set AMS behind accommodating us late arrivals. The running between parking lot and HQ took time, but finally got chrono'd (328 after spring change! All that work for a slow shot). After another run to parking lot to get geared up and realized I had too much crap. Got it narrowed down to a rolling tote and rolling cooler...still waay too much!!

 

We missed the transport to FOB, so we spent the next hour dragging our gear 2.5 miles to FOB in the rain. We're older, so this was exhausting. Most of Cost was set up in the open, but we set up under a tree and made cover. After resting and regearing we met our unit and headed into town. With a low 300s FPS, i wasnt a threat to anyone. The engagement distances were high, and you couldnt even feel rounds hit you. Despite this, combat near the rubble was great and headed back to FOB to get ready for night.

 

I rented some NVG from Milsim Nods LLC and couldnt wait to use them. Do to the high humidity from the rains, my brand new Eye protection was fogged up instantly...Walked around the FOB, but that was it. Time to pack up all that gear and make sure I get a ride to the parking lot!!

 

Sunday...DONT BE LATE!! My old self woke up late and guess what, missed the transport again. This time we had downsized to a backpack! Did the 2.5 miles, and jumped into the fight. On the way to meeting with my unit I was redirected by my CO Yuk to hold the subway tunnels. Had a blast defending the tunnel then walking around the city. My second time back, it had become a ghost town. I entered a building i was in previously and 2 men in black walked by me. I stepped up behind them and began to talk with them. Turned out they were SD and i was in thier building, lol! They didnt have orders to shoot me, and i was too confused to safety kill them. So i said goodbye and jumped out their window. I continued walkin around the city unchallenged. I even walked up to the UFS aid station before encountering resisitance. Apparently everybody was pushing on the West so nobody was on the East Side. After getting shot I enjoyed the veiw as CoST pushed up behind me. What a great perspective of the battle as Jet and the Austrian guys pushed past and medic'd me.

 

At the end there was the raffle and I decided to stay. I figured it would be some cheesy swag, but what the hell, lets check it out. Walking up they were hurling silicone cans into the crowd! Lol, heads up for realz!! I never win raffles, but I was hoping the wife would win something....when my number was called I didnt even expect it...No way, me?? I won a gun, and posed for pics...what the hell is a Polar Star?? As everyone congratulated me and growled at my fat-ass I realized I must have won something good, lol. I am now the new father of a G&G PDW 15 with a PolarStar Jack conversion, done by PolarStar!! Now that I know what I have, I am really looking forward to a different airsoft experience!

 

Thanks to AMS, Guardian Centers, Polar Star, all the players, especially the folks in Utah 5 that I only saw once, but they helped out alot! Its a shitty experience for everyone if youre late, so arrive early! And get your gear and test it before going. For your own enjoyment and for the teammates you are supposed to be supporting. My only complaint would have been for a second round of transport to the FOB. For late players (some people drove a long way and had a valid excuse) and for those that had to hike to parking lot for repairs or rest. I can also second the need for more vehicles or obstacles to close engagement distances, and opening more of the second floors. Of course these things are probably more Guardian Center restrictions than AMS restrictions and didnt hurt the game at all. In fact the longer engagement distances made for some strategic planning when entering town.

 

I'm looking forward to my next AMS event. Thank you all again

[jdelbs18 97]

First events are always crazy man! And yes, you learn quickly that you only need a backpack of things It's awesome winning something, and you won a sick polar star! Congrats man and I hope you guys make it out to more games! No worries, after a few, you'll get into the swing of things and it will all be second nature!

[crv 0]

Man I want to attend an AMS event so bad, but the "bad" is really bad and enough for me to not attend.

 

The distance walking, from what is sounds like, was pretty ridiculously long, and that is a huge turn off. I won't be walking 2.5 miles to my FOB because AMS can't provide transportation for those 2.5 miles.

 

Next, the whole thing with Jet point-blank full-auto shooting a guy in the face on purpose is pretty disturbing. Not sure what the truth is as all parties are too chicken sh*t to talk about it, but nonetheless this type of behavior is enough to stop me from going. I really do not want to risk getting into a fight with a bunch of wannabe operator douchebags because they shot me 100 times in the face.