Bear D'Egidio

Operation Black Shield - Event Recap

Operation Black Shield 6 was our largest Black Shield yet with over 400+ players from around the west coast making their way to the world famous SC Village Paintball and Airsoft Park for an intense two day battle between USA and Russia. But first, the background to the event:  

Somewhere in the Baltic States:

US Civilian Contractors have been working with the local Government to construct a oil & gas pipeline near the eastern borders in largely Russian speaking areas of the countryside.

Reports are rapidly coming in of large number of separatist fighters amassing in the countryside and heavily armed soldiers dressed and carrying what appears to be modern Russian military weapons. Both enemy forces appear to be taking up position at strategic points in the countryside including airfields, radar positions and oil pipelines.

No-one is sure who these “Little Green Men” (зелёные человечки) are but the locals have taken to calling them the “Polite People” (вежливые люди). Rumours abound that they may in fact be highly trained Russian special forces - Spetznaz.

US Forces based in the area have have taken up position to defend their NATO allies, and territory. Their mission OPERATION BLACK SHIELD 6: Defend strategic oil and gas resources in friendly territory from these “Little Green Men” and find out who exactly they are fighting for.

US Forces were led by General Mark from AEX with Gabe (LTD Airsoft), Jose (MAX Airsoft), Panda (Synergy) and Zero (Katz Airsoft) providing XO duties. Russian forces were led by General CQB Russian, Mark (@TheBrainExploder), Blurry (Team F.R.O.G), Reaper (Team KYS) as XOs with Jet Desert Fox working as a Russian Assassin and handing out bonus raffle tickets.

Each General was given a stack of mission envelopes, which were to be opened every half hour, and teams were given 1 hour to complete each mission, two flags were placed in the middle of the battlefield for bonus points, and wildcard missions were issued throughout the two days.

The main battlefield consisted of Baghdad, Kuwait, Fallujah and Kosovo fields, while night games were fought on Supply Depot and SC Viper.

The conflict stated as both sides battled across the 4 maps for control of territory, USA gaining an early advantage as their army spread out and took elevated positions in Fallujah and in the Buses of Baghdad. Weapons caches were deployed and recovered by US forces who exfiltrated them back to their CPS.

Next the Russian forces attempted to occupy the parliament buildings in Fallujah, but the US forces were dug in too strongly to dislodge them. In the process a US plane was shot down and a airman went mission, special forces were sent to recover him, Russian forces attempted valiantly to keep their POW secure, but with an advantage in numbers, the US forces were able to recover him and escort him safely back to base.

After failing to take and hold parliament buildings, the Russian forces were given orders to attempt to destroy them instead, but the US defence was too strong, and the capital was protected though out the duration of the mission.  The US continued to capture important information and recover it back to base, holding off any russian attack as they advanced towards their CP before scud missiles were dropped and pushed the attackers back.

Reports of chemical WMDs scattered throughout the battlefield were met with both armies sending troops out to recover as many containers of the dangerous liquids as possible. Once gain the US forces were able to recover more of the weaponised chemicals and win the mission.

Even after being pushed back to the Embassy the US forces kept fighting and defended their objective against the Russians. No matter what they threw at the structure they were unable to overrun and destroy it.

At this stage the battle moved to the urban environment of SC Viper and Supply depot, where after 30 minutes of intense firefights the US forcers were able to eliminate all but one Russian - a lone sniper in a corner tower.

Night time patrols continued throughout the darkness, as both sides fought in the urban areas to recover important objectives hidden in the buildings.

Sun rose and both armies found themselves on different sides of the battlefield, and a dawn assault was launched, the Russian troops gaining a second wind with the addition of civilian conscripts (in the form of walk on players!) and managed to take some territory early on. An armoured car was destroyed scattering cash throughout the battlefield, and the US forces were able to use their speed to recover much more of it than the Russian forces.

At this stage, word of double agents was being whispered by military intelligence, two spies had snuck behind enemy lines, with false ID and patches, carrying thunder bees. They were able to convince fresh soldiers of false missions and lead them to their doom, they found themselves behind what they thought was safe cover, until the thunder bee grenades went off.

All this news of spies and double agents was merely a cover for tactical nukes to be transported across the battlefield, before breaking down in no mans land. Both forces battled it out to recover the rocket parts, but the Russians were no match for the USA who recovered them all.

Things were looking grim for the Russians after a string of defeats, so they were left to regroup and rearm for one final battle - the battle for the baltics, moving to a new area of the battlefield once again the whistle was blown and both armies ran into the firefight. After 30 minutes, the Russian forces were all but routed.

The end result was a major USA victory, with USA racking up over 4000 points and Russia getting just below 1000.  Special shout out goes to one of our youngest players - Garret who walked away with a tonne of awards and even more gear. Garret played on the Russian side and was one of the USA’s most formidable opponents, using his size to sneak behind enemy lines and engage in multiple knife kills. Check out our facebook photo album here.

Tonnes of prizes were given out over both days, including guns, harnesses, green gas, clothing, vouchers, more patches than ever and even a drone.  Huge thanks to our sponsors Paintballgateway, Airsoft Extreme, Echigoya, Airsplat, Evike, Extreme Tronics, Airsoft Master, PTS, Lancer Tactical, Armadillo, Krytac and everyone else who supported the event.