Originally, I anticipated filling the role of Air Traffic Controller as I'm terrible in GVs as well as planes.
I didn't take any films so this is all from memory:
When the frame started, the Axis was under-manned so I happily switched sides. I started with an M8 and spawned across the channel, drove to A-15 and promptly got sent to the tower by 715, that no good sniper. I see his name in my text buffer on Thursdays nights far too often so no surprise there. S! 715.
'Well', I thought, 'I don't need to be in a GV to take down their town, I can do it with a bomber.' So up I go in an He111. I drop two 250kg bombs and nothing. Jaeger hasn't changed the setting at this point because we thought it would be fine. It wasn't, but it didn't get changed until later. Anyway, I see a countryman (Alpo?) with a bandit on his six and I try to pursue in my speedy He 111. I never get within guns distance of the Hurri chasing him.
Someone reports a dot behind me but I have my tail gun key set as switching to formation bomber number 2. I never spot the bandit that closes and kills me. S! Copprhed.
At this point, I'm 0 kills to 2 deaths and I haven't even killed a shack! You'd think I'd be ready to bail from the arena but I'm having too much fun so I stay and up a 110c. That sortie was better as I de-acked the town but I won't bore you with the details. I killed several guns before an Allied plane killed me. I'm back in the tower again!
I'm a little smarter this time. I haven't seen a single GV to kill with either the He 111 or the 110c, though I'm assured that some people have seen GV Icons but only when they fly directly overhead and very low. I decide to go pure Air to Air in a 109. After all, I spent time with an AH trainer, FLS (S!) and I should be better at that now, right?
No reflection on FLS, he's an excellent teacher and I recommend him to anyone seeking to kick off the rust after an extended hiatus. It helped immensely but old dogs must practice, practice, practice, I didn't. I managed a couple of assists and one kill, but it was on Copprhed as I recall so that in itself is worth ten times as much because revenge is SO sweet.
After the 109 sorties, I switch to an M16 to defend our town and a mangler tree at our own town grabs me. Again Copprhed gets a kill on me! Grrrrrrr!
I reup the same ride and this time I get to the town and catch sight of an M3! It's Jaeger with troops!
I start blasting away and realize my 4x.50s are missing him. My head position is off! I adjust and keep pounding away. I see hits on him, but I hear pings on my hull at the same time. I'm in the tower, AGAIN.
I want to return ASAP but I should have been able to kill Jaeger's measly M3, I want something more powerful so I up the mighty M8 and boogie! Jaeger shows up again in an M3 and I start shooting holes through him. Did I mention that I suck and haven't played in years? I start hearing pings on my hull as I switch to HE and continue firing. BANG! Jaeger blows up! Very satisfying, aaaahhhh, yes!
It's two hours into the frame by this point. The Axis was aggressive in the early half and the Allies came back in the second half but neither side was able to achieve a base capture. We get to try again next Saturday night and I look forward to more fun without the heavy tanks.
At some point I'm sure we'll attract enough interest to provide for historical squadrons in the different rolls, but in the meantime, we'll stay flexible and work to make it a fun time for all. Frame 2 of Tour 1 is next Saturday night, 9pm EST. I hope you'll join us and bring your friends.
I must add that it was gratifying to hear praise for the terrain as it was a first pass and is due for updates once AH3 goes live with rivers, as are all the AvA terrains to date. Thank you for the kind words Gents!
When it was all over, my only regret was that we didn't help players having trouble with their AH3 settings, like Makayla, with a vox problem. I am sorry Makayla, we'll try to do better next time.
To the three guys that entered and apparently had issues with the arena, I'm sorry you missed out, it was a fun evening. We'll be posting about the problem in the Beta forum and I hope you'll provide HTC with your specific details of the issue.
