NIGHT OPS VII

AS MIGUEL AND THE AA CREW IN PORTUGAL HAVE BEEN ON THEIR ANNUAL “AIRSOFT VACATION” IT’S GIVEN HIM A CHANCE TO SIT BACK (A LITTLE!) AND REFLECT ON THE GAMES THAT TOOK PLACE BEFORE THIS, AND ONE THAT WE ALWAYS LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT IS THE ONGOING NIGHT OPS SERIES OF GAMES! THIS TIME HE DELVES INTO THE LATEST ITERATION OF THIS EVENT, AND BRINGS IN HIS REPORT VERY MUCH FROM “THE FRONT LINE” AS GAME ORGANISER, RATHER THAN PLAYER!

As summer in Portugal hit us like we just entered a sauna, games slowly came to a stop. There are a lot of players on holidays now, and in some places it’s even forbidden to be out in woodland areas due to the wildfire alerts and overall it’s just too hot to play, with thermometers reaching close to 40ºC.

But, before starting our usual annual break, we still had the Night Ops VII event from ANA in the calendar, and just like last year, the association reached out to us, asking if the game could be held in our field. So, as good members of the community, we said yes! And then it was time to get to work!

“BEFORE STARTING OUR USUAL ANNUAL BREAK, WE STILL HAD THE NIGHT OPS VII EVENT FROM ANA IN THE CALENDAR, AND JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, THE ASSOCIATION REACHED OUT TO US, ASKING IF THE GAME COULD BE HELD IN OUR FIELD. SO, AS GOOD MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, WE SAID YES! AND THEN IT WAS TIME TO GET TO WORK!”

As any game of this dimension, work starts a couple of months before, checking the field, creating missions from scratch, going over a million details, while trying to create something interesting. We even held a small private practice with other ANA members to simulate the missions that were being created. If you ever organized a game, you know that some situations will only come to surface in the field, while players are fighting for the objective. What strategies are they going to try? What paths are they going to take? Is the respawn in a good position, or will it create issues, and many other aspects. And this went on with online meetings, field visits, and map designs, all while trying to have everything organized. Fast-forward to the event weekend and we arrived in the field at around 10:30. The plan was to unload everything, and divide it by categories, set up the military tent for one of the scenarios (since it is time-consuming!), and test the generators. With the first steps completed, we went out for lunch and a small break. But even while on break, all we talked about was the game, going over many points, so nothing got overlooked.

Around 15:00, and with more staff in the field, we kept working. Setting up the game scenarios (more on those soon) and check in, getting the lounge ready and other smaller works. At 17:30, we held a small internal briefing, going over the scenarios, rules, details and answering any questions from the staff members. It’s always important to have everyone on the same page!

At exactly 18:00, we opened the gates, and the players started flooding in, and until around 20:00 everything went as smoothly as possible, players getting their gear ready, testing replicas, socializing and going toward the check in/chrono area. Of course, like always, we had to push a few, otherwise then they all pile up close to the briefing hour…

GAME ITSELF IS A BIT DIFFERENT FROM MOST GAMES, IT’S BASED ON SCENARIOS, AND EVERY SECTION (A GROUP OF PLAYERS) WILL GO THROUGH ALL SCENARIOS, IN BOTH DEFENCE AND OFFENSE, THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. THIS WAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE A CHANCE OF EXPERIENCING ALMOST 100% OF THE GAME”

BRIEF AND GAME ON!

Around 20:30, we held a small briefing and ANA gave out their traditional prizes, the most represented team, the first inscription, the player who travelled furthest and the one present with the oldest member number.

The briefing itself was short, the game style had already been shared in the event’s Telegram channel and online briefing, and those who already played in previous series know how the game itself works. So, we focused on the dangerous part of the field, and some specific rules. But then it was time to start the game, and send the players to their briefings.

Now... how does the Night Ops event work?

The game itself is a bit different from most games, it’s based on scenarios, and every Section (a group of players) will go through all scenarios, in both defence and offense, throughout the night. This way, everyone will have a chance of experiencing almost 100% of the game. Sure, some might get eliminated early on during a scenario, but that’s part of the game.

The player base was divided into ten Sections, Alpha through Juliet, and each had around ten players. As soon as the general briefing was done, the Sections had to present themselves to one of four HQ that were located inside the Safe Zone (the lounge), at specific hours, and in that location they would receive a specific mission briefing. After that, they would move to the scenario of the mission that was given.

Every scenario had a time limit, so after it was done, the Sections would return to the Safe Zone, check their schedule and present themselves for the next mission.

Each scenario had a winner or a loser, and this information was given to the game masters by the staff present in each one. In the end, the Section with most points would win. There were a total of four scenarios, which took place in specific parts of the map.

Scenario Driven

So, what were the scenarios you are asking? Worry not, let’s go over them now.

First we had the “Dark Extraction”. The attacking Section was briefed that the enemy held hostage three members and those members were being interrogated at this moment. But among those three, only one held critical information that couldn’t end up in enemy hands. So their mission was to attack the POW camp, find the right POW and extract with them.

The trick in this mission was that there was no concrete information about which was the correct POW. And since this is Night Ops, which also has the goal of offering players a chance

SCENARIO HAD A TIME LIMIT, SO AFTER IT WAS DONE, THE SECTIONS WOULD RETURN TO THE SAFE ZONE, CHECK THEIR SCHEDULE AND PRESENT THEMSELVES FOR THE NEXT MISSION. EACH SCENARIO HAD A WINNER OR A LOSER, AND THIS INFORMATION WAS GIVEN TO THE GAME MASTERS BY THE STAFF PRESENT IN EACH ONE” of using their NVGs and Thermals, if the players used their NVG to look at the POWs, they would see one marked with IR paint. But, it wasn’t that easy, first they had to attack a defended location, with a military tent that had spotlights pointing 360º (at least until the generator allowed it), only then they could search for the POW and extract him.

The defending Section, although not knowing the enemy’s objective, just had to hold the location under their control until time ran out.

Secondly, we had the “Radioactive Run”.

In this scenario, one Section had to escort a scientist who was carrying containers with uranium to a vehicle for extraction. There were a total of three containers, so that meant three trips escorting the scientist. The other Section had the mission of retrieving a specific container, the one carrying enriched uranium. And again, here the players with the right toys could have an advantage and only attack the correct convoy. The enriched uranium container was hot, so it could easily be identified by a thermal sight.

In this scenario, the escorting Section would win if they extracted all three containers, and the ambushing Section if they extracted the correct container.

The third scenario was the “Fallen Agent”.

In this one, players had a bit of a surprise, one that many only learned after they played it on the other side. Instead of two, this scenario had three Sections fighting at the same time, something that was never done in previous Night Ops!

The briefing was about a CIA agent that was infiltrated in Russian territory, and while escaping, his plane crashed, but it crashed on Chinese soil. So now, a Chinese forward group was holding the location while waiting for the main force. In the meantime, both Russian and American forces had their own agendas and were trying to get the agent out of the crash site and to an extraction zone.

In this mission, the Chinese forces would win if they could hold the agent until the clock ran out, while the Americans and Russians had to extract the agent to a safe location.

The last scenario was the simplest one and one where players could spend BBs like crazy. It was called “Critical Zone”, and it was basically a bomb diffuse mission.

One Section had to defend part of the field where three bombs were planted, while the attacking force had to defuse them in a specific order. Unlike other scenarios, this one had unlimited respawns, but the time limit was the same. Here, the defending group would win if they could hold at least one bomb, and the attacking force had to defuse all three to win!

Wrap And Debrief

And this was Night Ops VII, different scenarios for different play styles, a lot of action and a reason to use Thermals and NVGs.

Now, was it all perfect? Of course not, with player feedback we noticed that the missions could have a bigger time limit, for some players who were unfamiliar with the field, so, moving towards their scenario at night took some time, and then they had little time left to complete the objective. This needs to be considered, especially because with longer mission times, the whole game will either start during daytime, or end after the sun is up. And that could spark some complaints as well.

We also noticed that it was impossible to follow the schedule time for mission briefings, because the Sections would take their time to return, so the four commanders had to come together and set up a plan.

It was great to work with VeryMau from KillerBees and The Dutchess and Geraldo from B.T.A., who all had their mission briefings, and we had to keep communication among the group to know what was happening.

I also want to thank Almeida, the Game Master, with who I worked closely in order to organize the game.

I’m aware of how many hours he spent behind the curtains, preparing a lot for this game to go well. And of course, thanks to my own team GHOST OPS who spent the night working, so others could have fun and play airsoft.

Now I just hope I can play next year! AA