Monday night dispatches

After yet another good weekend of mostly Vietnam, and yet another good turn out from XDC (my drunken shenanigans aside), I was a little worn out going into the games last night, and not really expecting to be on for long. Maniac and Queeks were already playing by the time I got myself sorted, and they were in a BC2 server which was a good change of scenery for me, after the weekend, and I soon found myself lifted enough to put in a lengthy session. Having said that the games started off quite slow and frustrating, as our team were proving themselves quite inept in defence, and we got steamrolled on a map where it’s usually difficult to lose the first stage. Still we managed to get all of XDC in the same squad by the end of the map, and we’d done alright for ourselves so things were looking up while Arica Harbor loaded.

This is the map where each side starts with 2 or 3 tanks, and the attackers have an expanse of desert to traverse towards an enclosure where A and B are located. It’s often a pain in the tits, as the tanks rarely work together or are simply not aggressive enough, making it next to impossible for the infantry to assault, but on this occasion our tanks and anti tank infantry were spot on, and our team managed to get in without breaking too much of a sweat. So we moved onto the next stage, which is one of my favourites in the whole game, where you assault a town down an open slope, and while we found it tough in getting a foothold within the town initially, another squad in our team had managed to get in and set B, which distracted the defenders enough to allow us to get at least one of the squad down the slope. At this stage our squad was Maniac, Stalker, Queeks, and myself, but heavy breathing and rattling over a mic announced the arrival of Wolf in TS, and luckily enough he was able to get onto our team and contributed well to our assault on A.

This proved tricky as the defender’s had gotten their act together, and it took some good coordination from us to keep them from deactivating the charge. There was some awesome close quarters fighting around the town at this point and well played all round as we finally got it, especially Stalker’s brass balls, charge in, approach, and also in managing to keep ourselves alive during this which allowed us to quickly move onto the third stage at full strength. What we didn’t count on was the defenders taking the view that attack is the best form of attack, and we found ourselves running into a couple squads worth of defenders in areas attackers are normally safe, but we managed to despatch them with only a few losses, and managed then to slip in behind them under the bridge, on top of which was the train carriage holding the trickiest of the two charges. Despite our initial efforts being beaten back, somehow Queeks and Stalker managed to get in good positions again, giving Maniac and myself a chance to join in what became a frenetic scramble around the charge, with defenders coming at our position from two or three directions at once. XDC held firm though, with people picking up medic kits to revive fallen squad members, and we started making our way across the bridge onto the fourth stage.

Surprisingly we managed to get in and set both charges here quite quickly, and I don’t remember much of a fight around this part, or at least I wasn’t involved following a couple of deaths crossing the bridge, and by the time I had gotten across we were already moving onto the hardest stage of the map (imho), where the defenders have a building to defend from at the back corner of the map. XDC’s squad work here was a sight to behold, as we moved up via the left hand side, using crates to shield us from the hail of bullets coming down from the top levels of the main building, and covering each other from several opposition players adopting an aggressive style of defence again. Props must go out to Maniac here who kept himself a live for a long period very close to the main action, providing the rest of the squad with an excellent spawn point each time our attack faltered. Eventually we managed to get in, set the charge, and there must have been half our whole team defending the floor, as we closed out the game. Excellent scores all round from our squad giving us the best squad pin, and a very satisfying conclusion to the evening it seemed, as 11 o’clock rolled by.

It was not the end though, as Paddy and I opted for some Vietnam instead of calling it quits, and while I’ll not go into the same detail, the two or three rounds I played were exceptional. We were on a hardcore server this time, and on opposing sides, and Paddy was absolutely on fire in his tank, taking down 6 choppers with tank shell hits in one round (is there a more satisfying kill?). Queeks returned to TS by the next round and Maniac by the end of that one, and following a change of server we managed to get into the same squad again in time for a conquest round on Vantage point. Jim may actually have been kicked at this point, as I don’t remember seeing much of him during this round, which was a shame because it featured some of the best close quarters fighting I’ve yet seen in the game.

Since DICE seem to have forgotten what made conquest a good game mode, Vantage point conquest follows the same linear pattern most conquest maps in BC2 use, with A and C close the each side’s spawn, and B sitting in between on a hill. For the most part this game is all about holding B, and often the first team to cap middle, wins the round. On this occasion though we managed to get B early, but an opposition squad also flanked us and took A, which required some good squad work from us to get back. Again props to Maniac for the spawn point he provided here. Once we got it back, Wolf took control of the tank, and while I was his gunner for a bit, it was mostly him and Maniac who kept it up and running throughout the round, while I took on medic duties around the flag.

With the two of them eliminating the opposition armour, but themselves being cut off from the main fight by mines and attacks from our right hand flank, the flag descended into a fierce infantry fight. Both teams had squads probing each side, pushing forward, and being pushed back in equal measure. The flag switched hands so many times I lost count, but we eventually managed to assert ourselves and kept control of it for the most part. I’d found a nice position on the left flank, where we had a couple of medics working in tandem, keeping the team alive, and I was having a great time mowing down entire squads in succession as the opposition tried to move forwards. A few times they managed to get the upper hand, only for Wolf and Maniac to come riding to the rescue in shining armour.

The round ended in a win for us, and it’s one of the few times I’ve seen both teams acknowledging the fact it was a really good game, without any shouts of “noob team”, or other abuse from the kiddies.

That was it for me, and my god that was a good night’s gaming.