Operation Frozen Tundra '09

Operation Frozen Tundra was the first Scenario at this (formerly Cousins paintball) field in Plattekill, NY. The field is now run by Paintball Sports Inc. It was a cold day and much snowfall from earlier in the week was still on the ground. Despite the cold, fun was had by the many hardy souls who decided to brave the winter weather.

This game had an interesting and unique set up. We played the good guys, the town militia. The Scenario was as follows... Rebels have blocked off all trade routes to the town. They have seized control of a chemical factory that produces the additives used in oil refining. They are holding the town survival at ransom for protection fees. A local militia is tasked with re-securing the supply routes and escorting barrels of crude oil along a 4-step refining process. Each step requires taking control of certain area of the field, transporting your oil drum to that location and then holding it there for 15 minutes while it is being "processed". One of the steps requires procuring oil additives from the rebel stronghold at the chem factory and getting it to one of the refineries to be combined with the oil from your drum. This is to be done while not being overrun or allowing your barrel to be destroyed by 5 paintball shots. To up the difficulty level, the militia is outnumbered by the rebels by about 2-1 and the layout of the field means that the barrels are to be carried from one end of the field to the other and back again to complete the refining process.

Needless to say, the militia had its work cut out for them and completing the objectives was nothing less than difficult. The rebels had a tight grip on the chem factory and our militia was only able to secure the additives a few times. The snow made traversing the field a very laborious task, even WITHOUT trying to carry one of the barrels. I felt that this was the case from personal experience! While I traveled the barrels path several times, only once was I needed to help carry a barrel (and for only one sixth of its round trip). By the end of the day my quads were pumped!

It was the militia's task to control the supply route and that is what we did, save for a few instances where the rebels mounted a strafing run. The few times that the militia took control of the chem factory and got the much needed additives was enough for us to gain an advantage in points. Points were awarded for how far along the refining process the barrels were and for total time of possession of the chemical factory. Points were also awarded for the finding and returning of props and for General and XO (Executive officer) eliminations. These eliminations are where the rebels made up for some of their point disparity.

Much respect has to be given to the rebel players for their outstanding play! On one occasion when their push on our position was stopped, they left ambushes in the wake of their retreat. As we transitioned from defensive positions to offensive maneuvers, I couldn't help but feel our force start to get sucked into an ambush. As we were clearing the area, we thwarted two ambush attempts, but the third proved very effective for them. Three of our six or seven man squad were eliminated by a rebel that had waited for us to walk up along side his position. I was already past his position when I saw my team mate behind and to my left get eliminated. I alerted the rest of the squad as I scanned my left side for his position. The corner of my eye caught his movement. Before I could swing my marker into position, his paintballs were airborne and I was eliminated before getting off a shot. Two of us were down before a shot was even sent his way. The squad was on to him at this point but another member was sent to the deadbox before the enemy threat was neutralized. Beautifully played!

Another occasion of outstanding play was at the very end of the game... in the final waning minutes of the final battle. The militia was successfully defending the town from advances of the rebel forces. After a failed attempt to breach our lines, the militia took advantage of the momentum's turn and charged into the remaining rebel force. The militia dealt a devastating blow to the remaining rebel force but not before a single rebel player was able to sneak into the town. That single player armed with a stock class pump marker was able to take out our General, XO, their guards, and a couple of remaining players in the area! That single rebel player was walking straight into the bulk of the Militia's forces that were returning from the charge when the whistle blew and the game was over. Nicely Played!

Overall the day was a fun day paintballing in the snow. The cold did seem to cause paint issues. When I received my box of paint, I could tell it was kept very warm (even for an indoor temperature). Outside temperatures for the day were between 20 and 30 degrees and I'm not sure the paint agreed with the indoor/outdoor temperature swing. Many players on both the rebel and militia sides were experiencing paintballs breaking in the their barrels and flying with wild trajectories. While frustrating at times, the fact that the problems were affecting both sides equally, this didn't seem to ruin the mood of the players. The end score showed that the Militia had narrowly escaped defeat with a tally of 370 pts to 340 pts. I believe that the total headcount for the event was over 90 players and that the field could count the event as a success (not bad for a first showing under new ownership and management). Personally I look forward to seeing what else Chris at PSI has up his sleeve for his next game.