Thread: Operation Barracuda (9/20/09)

I just played a pretty awesome game on Op Barricuda tonight. I have to say, apart from one small snag, the game ran like a bloody well-oiled machine

We started out with a full infantry squad (mine), a near-full infantry squad, a few 3-man or less squads, the DCM guys running the Attack Huey, and a few pilots on the HueyTrans squad. Immediately, almost all of the team was dropped in A8, where a firebase was built (objectives this round were North Rock Fort, Swamp, and Bridge). From there, all of us moved up the coast to Rock Fort and some went west to the central fort at D6 to build another firebase.

First contact was had with a full Chinese squad hunkered down in a bunker next to a firebase just south of NRF. My squad's auto-rifleman, Bishop (paraphrased), laid down a screen of suppressing fire with myself and our grenadier while the riflemen rushed the bunker. CAS runs destroyed the firebase almost immediately after it was called in (luckily), so we had a free run into NRF. Reaching the CP, my squad cleared out the caves and bunkers and then started to cap the point. At this point, an enemy squad somehow appeared behind us in the formerly-cleared rocks and caves, killing our rally and most of us as well.

Spawning at our new firebase in the central D6 fort, we, with support from about half the team, immediately moved back to NRF and cleared it for real this time. Setting up defensive positions, a call for supplies was promptly answered by two Hueys flying in one after another. With a firebase built, I called in a chopper to take us to Swamp. Fun Fact: a talented Chinese sniper killed our pilot just before we took off (we laid down a smokescreen for him to respawn, warm up and take off) with an excellent shot. Nevertheless, we eventually ended up on a beach northeast of Swamp (not my intended LZ, but it turned out fine). We moved south and then swept in from the southeast after a long CAS run, which killed the enemy firebase and most of its defenders, which we soon mopped up.

Another call for supplies was answered very quickly, which resulted in a firebase appearing rapidly. With Swamp wrapped, my squad moved toward Docks and then swept on Bridge from the north, which was undefended. At this point, most of the team was pinned down by heavy attacks on NRF. We quickly set up a firebase (again supplied quickly by impressive pilots) and moved into defensive positions as our team closed in on Silo.

At this point, our machine went a little out of sync when NRF was unexpectedly neutralized. Luckily, half the team quickly respawned at Swamp and swiftly moved to recapture NRf, while Mariospeedwagon's squad and my own defended Bridge from relentless but light attacks. Once NRF was taken, I started moving on Silo. By the time I was nearing it, Bridge was hit by a devastating artillery strike, which wiped out the firebase there and all of its defenders. Luckily, by now a bold pilot had dropped an infantry squad on top of the Silo flag, which was almost capped by the time my squad entered the compound.

Why We Won

Op Barricuda is an extremely difficult map to win for the USMC, and there were several key factors that led to our victory:

1. EXCELLENT Pilots. The CAS pilots (DCM clan) were extremely accurate (especially in destroying firebases :P) and, despite a few friendly fire incidents, communicated often and smoothly with the infantry. The Huey pilots were just as impressive, bringing in supplies to a captured CP seconds after the call was made, plus making good drops for air cav. I have to say that this is the primary reason for our victory.

2. Fluent Communication. As stated before, the CAS pilots made their intentions VERY clear to the team before doing attack runs, and the infantry (usually) let the pilots know their position when near the attack areas. My squad was on point, and therefore I was pretty much running orders in place of no commander, suggesting defenders to deploy at captured CPs and for team attacks in general, along with building all of the firebases we had in the game. The Huey pilots listened to chatter and never made needless runs over the island (very few Hueys were shot down), resulting in an efficient logisitcs system.

3. Squads Composition. In general, most of the squads were made up of good players, and my squad was very respondent to my orders, and also communicated enemy contacts (the one gripe I had with them was that they often spoke at the same time) on sight. There was only one time that my squad member(s) and I disagreed, and that was quickly resolved by an enemy squad being on a hill and my members being at the bottom of it. I'm rather surprised that the team managed to hold NRF as long as it did, which is a testament to their skill.

4. Initiative. The USMC held the initiative during the entire battle except during the episode where NRF was neutralized. However, this was made up for by a rapid response by our team to retake the objective as well as the aforementioned bold SL who dropped directly on Silo after NRF fell again.

Excellent game, I sure hope I play others like it in the future

Isn't it still August?

Originally Posted by MarioSpeedwagen

Originally Posted by 503

But Operation Barracuda is extremely easy for the USMC to win. Since there is no bleed, ticket loss comes from death. All you need is a hydra huey doing random strafes at essential spots on the map to rack up kills.

USMC only won by 19 tickets. The fact that it was STILL so close when the USMC had GREAT inf squads and GREAT air support(Rikuno had to have had over 30 kills in the Huey when all was said and done) proves it is not an easy map for them to win. Very rarely can you get that kind of cohesiveness in a pubber round.

No, we won by 119 tickets. @503: No, (in my opinion) Muttrah is MUCH easier for the USMC to win, due to the fact that in Muttrah the MEC must spawn in one place and spread across the city, while in Barricuda the Chinese can spawn on the US objectives immediately.

Also: No, you see, I live in the Eastern Time Zone. We set our calendars one month ahead of you guys.