Let me say this about Operation Frostfire—it is aptly named!
I had three TAPs members for the day’s events: myself (Doc), Smokey (Jeffrey Berry), and The Emasculator (Joe Carucci, “Em” for short). We met for breakfast at 7am with my wife Nicole (Alpha-Beeotch) who had packed a lunch for us and was in full-groupie mode (She was being an excellent sport for coming out so early, and we all told her so). We decided even though we were short-handed, we would continue with our devised battle plan for taking the woods, since between us we had a Dagger, Saber and Broadsword to use in play. Then we headed over to the field around 8 o’clock, where we found they hadn’t turned the heat up yet and probably weren’t going to! We decided to play anyway, and proudly set up our new Team Aches and Pains banner for the first time in one of the tents.
The biggest field difference from We Were Soldiers ’06 was that the Western town was not in play, effectively limiting the main battlefield to the Woods and the Trenches. We took a quick walk of the field, examining the hill overlooking the trenches from the woods, and noting the flagpole locations, and then began setting up our equipment. Em had some technical difficulties with his new remote line but we soon had them under control, and everyone looked excellent in their uniforms with the proudly displayed TAPs patch logo.
We had a quick player briefing on the rules, then met with our general (Doug a.k.a. “Radio Man” of the Ejam Red Raiders) and the rest of the Red Team to start from the Air Force side of the field. The strategy was easy: take the high ground on the hill in the woods, and get the warhead from the jeep in front of it if we could. I also finally met ChrisPBFit in person, and we invited him to join us at our table. I had been in touch with Chris after the last game about his fitness-for-paintball program. He is a very friendly and outgoing person, and is an outstanding player and good sport as well. I looked forward to what the four of us could accomplish that day.
When the horn sounded, we sprinted for the woods, and found that the hill was well-taken by the Red Team by the time we reached it. TAPs began fortifying the hill and taking well-aimed shots at the Blue Team in the trenches before we were tagged out. As I walked off I noted we had the Red Team flags raised in the Air Force, trenches, and woods fields, and I began to feel good about the day despite the cold.
On returning, we found the woods were well-controlled by the Red Team, and we were ordered into the trenches while the Red artillery prepared to launch a mortar attack. We began fighting in the trenches and I launched several Scepter grenades, but soon we were taken out. When I re-inserted, I found we were losing ground in both the trenches and the woods. The paintballs were just too cold, and paint breaks were occurring everywhere. My barrel was frequently stopped up, and the mortars were spraying more than they were launching. There were also a lot of Red players who were not advancing to the front lines, including a lot of kids. I entered the woods behind Smokey, when we spotted snipers not far ahead of us. Smokey dove for cover, but I took a hit in the mask and was out again. I met Nicole and her brother “Wiggly” with his girlfriend who had come to briefly watch the game—she was taking some video of the battle with our camera from the sidelines.
When I returned, I tried to rally Red Team members along the fence line to push through the woods and avoid a left flank or friendly fire from the kids to our rear. As I hunkered in and began trading shots with the Blue Team about 75 feet ahead, more Red reinforcements including elements from TAPs and the Red Raiders began joining in behind me. Our TAPs shoulder patches were easy to see and proving invaluable in locating our fellow team members.
Several of the younger kids next to me asked me “What should we do?” “Shoot the Blue Team!” I replied. We started our push forward, and I advanced to about 20 yards short in a small clearing and began launching more Scepters at the hillside and the Blue’s front line just behind the woods flag. The fighting persisted for about 15 minutes before a ref came up and took me out for a hit on my shoulder I hadn’t even noticed. I guess our winter clothes were just too thick.
While I was refilling my tank and pods, the horn sounded for lunch. The TAPs met with ChrisPBFit and we began to take a break and clean up our gear for the afternoon. Nicole was a big help as she passed around hot soup and cocoa along with warm wishes. She had gotten us some good pictures and video that she promised to show us later. We found out from Radio Man that although the Red Team had done well early in the morning, the referees had discovered someone on the Red Team using non-regulation paint. That person had been banned from the field, but the Red Team had also been penalized for all its points we had scored early on in the game. Other Red Team members had lost us points for being caught wiping paint. We were going to have to try very hard to get those points back, and the Blue Team was known to fight even more fiercely when they were winning. We decided to go back to our original battle plan of taking and holding the hill if we could.
When the horn sounded we sprinted as fast as we could for the hill, and I lost sight of Smokey quickly. I charged up the hill and began shooting from about ¾ of the way up at the advancing Blue Team in the trenches. I should have kept going to the top, because nearly immediately 3 Blue Team members did just that, surprising me and surrendering me out of the game. I began walking back to re-insert (at least you don’t have much to clean off when you get surrendered).
When I returned the Blues had taken the hill and were pretty well dug in. I took Smokey, Em, and ChrisPBFit and we began working up the woods along the fence line. While we covered him, Smokey took off along the fence to an advanced position behind a tree, and began successfully flanking the Blues from their left. I moved to our left to triangulate, but we could only coordinate fire for about 5 minutes and take out 4 or 5 of their team before we were taken out ourselves.
As the TAPs returned to the game, Radio Man asked us to take a line of Red players that were in the woods but not advancing, and push them towards the hill. We stopped behind a truck at the edge of the trenches to discuss how best to do this, when we heard someone yell “GRENADE”! None of us ducked, we all instead pretty much turned with dumb expressions on our faces. The grenade hit the truck and took out the entire TAPs squad before we could move.
We all re-inserted together, and instead of heading for the woods, we made our way deep into the trenches. With Smokey’s help at ranging, I began to launch more Scepter grenades at the hill. A fellow Red Team member named Mike then made a run for the trench flag. ChrisPBFit and I tossed smoke grenades past the flag, then stood up and began covering him, but he was taken out quickly. I followed soon after.
I returned again with Em and ChrisPBFit to the trenches and fired the last of my Scepters at the hill, but they were ineffectual. We then prepared to make another run at the trench flag. Em and Mike volunteered to run it, and I rallied other Red team members surrounding us for suppression fire. Chris threw a 10oz paint grenade opposite the flagpole, and we let loose a hail of covering fire left and right while Em and Mike sprinted for the flag. I saw our flag rise as Em screamed his characteristic kamikaze battle cry. They were back over in an instant covered in paint, but with the flag still flying. I had been hit covering them, and we all walked back together celebrating a well-played move.
We came back to find that the Blues had taken the trench flag again in our absence. Em was out of the game, his hopper filled with smashed paintballs. I had returned with my last two 10oz grenades. As I arrived, Radio Man led a massive rush and the entire Red Team overran the trenches. I dove into the flagpole pit and covered another player as he once again raised our flag. Smokey appeared out of nowhere next to me, and I began priming the grenades for him to toss at the Blue Team as our players surged forward. This was our last rush, however, as the horn sounded an instant later, signaling the end of the game.
The Red Team had scored more kills than the Blue Team, but the Blue Team had controlled the field and its flag poles for far longer, earning them more points in the end. They had won the day. As I listened to the Blue Team leader’s profanity-laden “victory speech”, however, and looked at my new friends and old comrades and thought of all we had done that day in the intense cold, I was once again proud to be a member of the Red Team.
