A short while in coming but here are the final results from last weekends Fulda Gap Scenario Game courtesy of Ferg, field owner and Team F.E.A.R in attendance for the weekend long event.
Fulda Gap 2009 started on Tuesday when the first campers came in and dropped their campers. By Thursday afternoon we had over 200 people camping on the field. We in-processed over 700 players by Friday night.
Game start was delayed by an influx of some 200 walk-on players, as well as the generals wanting to get their units better organized. The Special Forces teams were inserted onto the field into “hides” at 1000, regular units entered at 1030 and the game started at 1100. On the initial game start ropes of paintballs were flying across the DMZ by both sides and the initial Warsaw thrust went to OP Alpha (the closest NATO checkpoint to East Germany) and OP Romeo, who received heavy resistance from NATO’s 11th Calvary. Almost immediately game control received a request by the Warsaw Command (General Kent “X-Man” Jones) for a tactical nuclear strike on Bad Herzfeld and the NATO Command (General Joe “Sideshow” Holleran) was notified of a missile launch by NORAD. By 1125 Bad Herzfeld was hit by a Soviet tactical nuke, OP Alpha had been over-run and OP Romeo was under serious contest. Soviet armored units were pressing on Camp Lee, forcing the NATO defenders to form a defensive phase line along the tree line between Camp Lee and Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, in other parts of West Germany, the Spetznaz commandos (played 
by Team Capital Offense) had come out of their hides and were proceeding to their first objective- the Chemical Plant at Wetzlar- defended by the 5th Panzer. The Spetz ran into serious trouble when they became surrounded and were practically decimated in their first attempt. The NATO 10th Special Forces, played by Team ODX, was having a better day. A small ODA worked the river under the eyes of the Warsaw garrison at Ohrdruf and positioned a tactical nuclear weapon under bridge 6. Meanwhile the bulk of the SF forces seized the flag station at Meiningen behind the lines causing a disruption in the Warsaw’s rear area, holding off to get the points for Phase 1. When the Warsaw Pact detonated their tactical nuke at Bad Herzfeld, the NATO commander immediately detonated the tactical nuke at Bridge 6, thus cutting off the only bridge connection between the two halves of East Germany.
The Warsaw Commander, sensing that the Spetz was not going to be able to accomplish its mission at Wetzlar alone, and seeing the stiff resistance that his conventional forces were receiving from the 3rd Mech units at Marberg, dispatched his Czech paratroopers (entering the field at 1200 under ref escort) to a drop zone at the foot of the hill below the city. The NATO Commander, also sensing that the battle tempo was switching to Marberg, ordered his 82nd Airborne Division dropped there to bolster his defenses. The 82nd got there first, so the Warsaw Commander called for an emergency drop zone change for the Czechs- along Route 10 between Wetzlar and Limberg. Upon their drop they were almost completely annihilated by the 5th Panzer, 82nd, and 3rd Mech.
Towards Camp Lee, the Warsaw invasion was proceeding well and by 1300 Warsaw had backed NATO into the Camp Lee/Frankfurt pocket, but NATO still held the high ground at Marberg and Limberg. At the end of the first phase, the game was tied at 650. Phase 2 began in earnest with the Warsaw pressing upon the NATO final phase line at Frankfurt, but having difficulties removing the NATO defenders in the hill country of Limberg and Marberg But by 1400 the Warsaw Pact had worn the NATO defenders down and pushed them out of both Camp Lee and Frankfurt taking a marginal lead at the end of Phase 2- 1450 Warsaw, 1200 NATO.
During the last 2 hours of day one, the NATO forces hammered themselves against the entrenched Warsaw Pact in Frankfurt, and defending the hill country while running out of paint, air and energy. They were able to recover much of Frankfurt, but the effort cost them the bulk of West Germany as the end of Phase 3 showed Warsaw at 2650, NATO at 1800.
On to the night game! After a quick prize giveaway sponsored by Lapco, all players retired to their camps to eat, rest, reload and contemplate the night game. At 1900 the players assembled in the briefing area and were given the rules of play at night, plus the producer got a quick head count- over 200 players with both sides fairly matched. By 2000 the fighting had begun again with Warsaw occupying Gotha and Ohrdruf and NATO occupying Frankfurt and Camp Lee. OP Alpha and Fulda were swing bases which were immediately split by both sides within minutes of the night game starting. The highlight of the night game was the courageous attempts by the “Red Hawks” of Montclair State University fall into a formation at the Warsaw entry point and march, in formation and flag flying, into the NATO defenders at Camp Lee, to be immediately mowed down almost to a man. The survivors would take positions behind the bunkers of the DMZ and wait for the next formational charge and try to gain ground. By the end of the night Warsaw won both swing bases, but weren’t able to take Frankfurt or Camp Lee, despite the best efforts of the Red Hawks. Warsaw 2850, NATO 2150.
The Sunday game started 30 minutes late by request from both generals, as 
apparently the terrain had done many of their players in from the previous day and they had to roust them out of their beds. With NATO starting from the high ground at Limberg, Marberg, Bad Hersfeld, and OP Romeo and the Warsaw possessing everything else, NATO was on the offense. NATO forces hit Frankfurt with everything they could spare, opening the roads for their armor to enter the field, and a combined force of infantry and armor pushed the Warsaw back to Camp Lee. The NATO Commander, knowing that the Warsaw side would receive a higher number of points for Gotha, launched a nuclear strike against it, thus denying Warsaw valuable points the rest of the day. NATO won two points phases back to back, trimming the Warsaw lead considerably. The energy was on NATO’s side.
The Warsaw commander, sensing the tide could completely turn against him if NATO was able to take Camp Lee, ordered a nuclear strike against it, with a scheduled impact 5 minutes after the 1300 base point calculation and his own troops still occupying it (typically Soviet). With that, NATO remained stuck defending the woodline between the former Camp Lee and Frankfurt and trying to hold the bases in the hill country, while sending teams to flip flags at the outlying bases in the country. Warsaw kept a team in reserve to do the same and waited for the last minutes of the game to dispatch the East German Infantry to seize control of the relatively unoccupied bases. For NATO, the effort to defend Frankfurt proved too much, as the Warsaw, able to move freely from East to West Germany unopposed, pressed the city in the final 30 minutes to the point that both sides were attacking each other within yards of the flag station. With a gallant last effort the Warsaw forces were able to flip the Frankfurt flag to red within the final minutes of the game.
Final score- NATO 3600, Warsaw 4100
The prize and awards ceremony was highlighted by over $15,000 worth of prizes donated by sponsors and CDWC. Sponsors included Valken Sports, Tiberius, Tech T, Owner’s Group/OSF (who also gave away a new Tippmann Phenom to a very deserving young gun), Planet Eclipse, Dead Box, Pinokio Hoppers, Verve Energy Drink, SplatterMagnet Graphics, Lapco, Duo Stock, Psi Works, Tactical Replicas, Houser Militaria, Port City Militia, Dogs of War, River Rats, Shadow Dragon Initiative, and of course the field store Scenario Supply.
In an awesome show of cross game cooperation, 3 passes to D-Day Oklahoma were donated by Dewayne Convers to players who have never attended D-Day, and finally the grand prize of a customized BT TM-7 was donated by Conlee Custom Camo
The awards ceremony also marked the retirement of Kent “X-Man” Jones as the Warsaw Pact Commander. Both he and Joe Holleran were outstanding tactical generals this year.
And we would like to give a special shout out to “Alex”, our friend from Serbia who was sponsored by the OG/OSF and CDWC to travel to the event, as well as Team Punishers from Quebec. Hope to see you next year, and bring some friends.
The planning process has already begun for next year, with improvements in ref staff, logistics and camping already being discussed. Further, the night after the event we received our zoning approval to build our MOUT facility in the place where Sim City is right now, offering our guests an experience usually reserved for military personnel on bases. Fulda Gap 2010 will be another “must attend” event.
Players- Warsaw 460, NATO 442 (plus 16 East Germans defected to the NATO side on Sunday). Total players including tank crews, VIPs, and press- approx 950 Tanks- 6 NATO, 5 Warsaw Anti-tank- 10 NATO, 12 Warsaw Final score- NATO 3600, Warsaw 4100 Other interesting stats- 2.5 million paintballs shot 70 cubic yards of garbage 20 porta-pottys, with 60 services Points won by Special Forces and Spetznaz missions- 1000 combined Nuke weapons used- 4 Airstrikes- 9 Number of local restaurants taken over by paintballers- 3 (including one very surprised Chilies)
Sharp looking tank in those pictures… lol It was our first time running it and we had a great time at Fulda, as always!