Hello everyone,
 
August 1st is only days away and "Flak Valley" is ready to go. This time, the Axis will be attacking the bridges at Piesport in waves of Ju-87 Stukas.  The Allied team will be defending them with 25mm and 40mm AAA guns and laying down a carpet of flak thick enough to walk on. The mission details are posted and sign ups are open in this thread. This event is a timed event with a 2 hour timer.

This mission will begin at 2pm EST (7pm GMT) and will be held on the Training server. With only a few days left until the "Flak Valley" Event explodes into action, you had better get in there and get signed up. We have plenty of equipment for everyone and the Event takes just 2 hours out of your Saturday ... just think about the AAA and dive bombing practice you can get in before jumping into the new campaign 54 on Saturday.

We have also started the "Squad Challenge" event and have completed the 1st match in Round 1. In  2 weeks, the next match will be held. We have 4 squads competing in the Squad Challenge, 101st, 91st, BTZ, and 7th AST. Here are the Point standings after the first match .....
 
7th AST - 2
 
91st - 1
 
101st - 1
 
BTZ - 0
 
 
Due to other issues on Saturday, I was not able to make it to the 91st vs. 101st match. They went ahead and ran it without me being there, and I’d like to say awesome job to them for going ahead. I’d like to apologize for not being there to record the action on fraps and post a video of it. I did however get to the BTZ vs. 7th AST and record there match and I have half of it edited and posted. You can find BTZ as the convoy and 7th AST as the attacker here on my File Front account .......  or you can go to YouTube and search jammyman9 and find it posted on YouTube as well. I’m in the process of uploading to YouTube now so and I do not have the URL for you currently.
 
I'd like to post this AAR written by Sport20 from the 101st about the Squad and their match against the 91st, which by the way, outnumbered the 101st 4 to 1 and the 101st managed to get a draw and score 1 point. Here's Sport20's AAR:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 101st DRAWS WITH 91st STURMBATTALION
 
25 JULY 2009 - Faced with a force three times its size, the 101st Airborne managed to squeeze out a draw against the 91st Sturmbattalion. Had it not been for the heroic efforts of the 8 members of the 101st, the squad would have been eliminated from the competition.
 
The premise of this first round of competition was to ambush an enemy convoy carrying a high-profile commander, and to kill said commander. Each side would take turns at operating the convoy and attacking it. The 101st took the convoy role first. The convoy consisted of axis persona, including 4 251s (1 multi-crewed) and several infantry. The 101st was lucky enough to have several current or former military servicemen (Rivait and Blato639) on at the time and gave some very vital pointers on the proper technique to driving a convoy through possible ambush locations. The route took us along the road from Unkel to Lohmar and included some fairly steep hills and many wooded areas, prime for ambush. The lead car was multi-crewed by Strike69 and Blato639 who would scout for ambushes and spray the surrounding bushes. Following was a random bluetag that decided to follow us. The third car carried myself, Kerndogs and Rivait, and was driven by Mil0one. Bringing up the rear was Captain CTHL himself, Gaze11e, who despite nearly a dozen CTHLs during the event, kept coming back in the crucial moments. Riding with him was Iclarke.
 
As we left Unkel, we maintained a 50m gap between vehicles, to ensure the destruction of one would not take out the others. Unfortunately, on the way up, the muppet failed to select the correct gear for the steep climb out of town and bottlenecked the convoy. Strike and Blato made it to the top, when the first of what would have been 3 ambush teams attacked the bunched up vehicles. I hunkered down inside my 251 as Mil0 sprayed the ditches where there enemy lie. Unfortunately, a stray grenade landed inside of my 251 and I was killed by 91st member List.
 
Down, but certainly not out, we switched sides, and the convoy would instead be driving from Lohmar to Unkel. The ambushing team would be using the persona which suits us better than any other: Paras. Before the competition started, I remembered the Rivait once knew how to place a satchel on the road to blow up a speeding opel. We practiced it with the 251 on both straight roads and on a hill, and felt we had the timing down fairly well; he dropped as a rifleman, approximately 1.5km outside of town and set up his position. As any halfway decent commander would, I asked for input from the guys on where the best ambush area would be. After much discussion, I made the last-second decision to drop onto town to allow our smaller numbers to use elevation and cover best for the ambush. Most of the guys grabbed LMGs for maximum fire support; while Kerndogs grabbed his trusty sniper rifle, and I choose the ATR in the off chance I could disable one of their vehicles.
 
So there we sat, waiting, knowing if we failed, not only would we be out of the competition, but we would have let an axis squad get the better of us. Truth be told, we had no reason to win the round: I would later find out the 91st had 25 people on against our 8 total. That said, I would take 8 members of the 101st over any amount of players, because I know if anyone could get the job done, it would be the 101st. All of a sudden, Rivait calls contact and the enemy convoy was bearing down on him. Their primary tactic was to multi-crew each 251 (they had the numbers to do so) and continuously spray the bushes along the road. Rivait knew his mission could only end in death, but he was determined to do his job. He ran out into the middle of the road, tracers whizzing by in every direction, and he layed his Improvised Explosive Device. As he retreated back to cover, he was cut down, only to see the first 251 pass over the charge unscathed. Then, as the second rolled over top, the charge went off. Somehow, in the confusion, the 251 rolled over, dumping, and killing its occupants! The 91st just lost its first 4 support members, but the convoy rolled on, shaken, though not deterred.
 
I had taken position on the same hill we had been ambushed on, using a snake-pit for cover and with a nice shot on the road. As the 251s rounded the final curve, the gunfire buzzed and cracked over my head. Tracers landed all around, but my defilade kept me safe. I took aim at the first 251 and fired – no damage. I hit the following 2 vehicles, causing one to smoke, and as the 4th passed, I reloaded and moved to the center of the road, safe from their guns. The convoy was about to enter town as I once again opened fire. The shots seemed futile as the trucks were nearly 400m away and downhill at this point, but I was not about to give up. The rest of the team opened fire at a predetermined point outside of the AB walls. Confusion ensued. I took one final shot at the convoy, when the .55 caliber round finally hit home: A 251 exploded, killing the same player who killed me on the last round: List.
 
The exploding 251 sent the rest of the convoy into disarray, enemy troops began to pour out of them, only to be cut down by the machine gun fire from the roofs and buildings. Then a lone rifle shot rang out, and Kerndogs reported the German commander dead. We had done it! We had decimated the entire German force, only to have lost two men in the process. The excitement of the squad was tangible as we knew what we had accomplished. The teamwork displayed by the members of the 101st was truly inspiring and I was proud to have shared the experience with such an amazing team.
 
My eternal respect also goes out to the 91st Sturmbattalion and their leader Messtin. They performed excellently and with a level of dignity and respect not commonly found. All were very professional and exhibited a level of teamwork which will make them a formidable adversary to any who faces them.
 
S!

Sport20, TSGT
101st Airborne, WWIIOL

Jammyman
Special Events Program Director / Intermission Scenario Development
WWII Online Battleground Europe
Corned Rat Software / Playnet Inc

wow ! Fantastic fun - Doc.