It was a gray dreary morning as I arrived at the Montgomery Memorial Battle field with the weather gods threatening rain throughout the day. As is not my usual custom I showed up really late instead of only moderately so. After the mandatory ribbing regarding my time management skills I proceeded to prep the new and improved Cromwell for the days battling. Today I would test the speed demon of the R/C Combat universe at a 20% reduced top end. The winds are changing in our hobby with a proposed speed limit rule being discussed (as a safety measure) so today the Cromwell would be known as the "Safety Cromwell". Ten minutes later which consisted of unloading the vehicle and installing two new and freshly charged batteries and topping off the CO2 tank I was ready to go, or so I thought. The gun wouldn't fire or elevate which suggested dead batteries in the turret. I want to thank Will for the loan of AA batteries which corrected the fault (I forgot to bring extra). With the new AA's installed and paintballs loaded I fired off some test rounds and tested overall functionality. Everything seemed ready to go except for a CO2 leak from one of the macro line fittings. This normally isn't a big issue because the fittings usually seal up after a few minutes of battling so I closed the turret up and waited for the start of the game.
The first battle we were going to play it old school with no town or barriers and a limited number of combatants (like the old days). Only those I call "the hardcore" showed up to brave the rain (Frank, Will, John, Joe, myself, and now Doug). The battle was going to be shoot-em- up three on three with Doug manning the Navarone gun for my team. Doug's Tiger was having an issue and we were waiting for the Geeks-on- Call tech to show up to fix it (seems he was having a network issue). Joe and the Hetzer rounded my team out with the old TriPact core of Frank, Will and John opposing us. Joe and I decided to use close team tactics and support and defend Doug and the Nazarone gun instead of our usual lone-wolf tactics. I would like to say that the days first battle was a wonderment of tactical prowess, speeding tanks, and flying paintball's but I cannot. Maybe it was the gray dreary day invading our tanks systems but the first battle was more malfunction than battle. I recall the Hetzer being wheeled of the field due to a power issue, the Comet stopped mid field and wouldn't move, and that CO2 leak of mine cost me a kill! About that lost kill, for whatever odd reason Frank fancies himself as a great woodsmen with his venerable T001 Tiger (Mk12). Frank just loves to romp in the woods under the delusion he can go wherever he pleases and gain some sort of tactical advantage over his adversaries. Early in the battle and during one of Franks delusional periods I noted the Tiger in the woods. I sauntered over to checkup on Frank and make sure he wasn't hurting himself or lost. While I was heading over that way with concerns for my friend I noted the Tiger vainly trying to pound its way through thick underbrush and flank me. I couldn't help but notice the entangled status of the aging and apparently senile cat so I swung around behind it with intent to take it out Kelly's Heroes style since he couldn’t turn or swing his turret around. At this point Frank must have snapped out of his stupor, noted his current situation, quickly formulated a plan to extradite himself from this precarious spot, and proceeded to back the Tiger directly into the Cromwell (the only way out of this rabbit hole he’d created)! Well at this point I’m thinking to myself, surely Frank will not breach the Cromwell’s five foot radius zone and thus violate the rules but that’s just what he apparently intended to do! Instead of quoting scripture I decided to give Frank the benefit of doubt (considering his current mental state and all) and started backing out myself since I still had the easy kill – OR SO I ASSUMED! At this point the Cromwell is backing off, the Tiger is doing its best to run over me in reverse and I start firing to land the four quick hits for the kill, but what does happen? After landing two shots on the ass of the Tiger I hear the distinctive bluuurb of an empty CO2 tank! I realize in an instant that the stupid CO2 leak never sealed and it cost me my first kill of the day! That not being bad enough, realizing I’ve got no gun (of course Frank now knows my predicament) I try to get out of there as quickly as possible, still reversing into thick brush (because Frank wasn’t stopping!), and I manage to turn my power switch off on the thick underbrush, Cromwell goes dead, and Frank gets the easy kill I thought was going to be mine….. Long story short, macro lines suck! At this point, licking my wounds I go and get a CO2 fill. I try to jiggle the macro line to get the o-rings to seal and they do to some extent. Topped off with CO2 I proceed back to field and what do I see but the Tiger BACK IN THE WOODS! Seems Frank slipped into his stupor again and is trying to pull the same maneuver with Joe’s Hetzer as the intended target. With vengeance on the forebrain I speed over that way, Joe swings around and pins Frank into his rabbit hole and I smash into the woods opposite of where Frank was attempting to go, get within five feet, and land the kill shot on the right of the Tigers turret! After this righteous kill I putter around the battlefield, firing shots off at whomever, and loose CO2 again! I say to hell with it and go to replace my macro line. While replacing the macro line, John’s Comet experiences a controller failure and an early lunch is called. End of part 1… Steve T. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
