Post by crazydima on Mar 10, 2009 8:33:50 GMT -5
Tovarischi,
First I want to thank Jeff Cummings and his staff with IDNR for their hospitality and making it possible for us to be on the site. I also want to thank Mark Pennington and his assistants for all they did to make this event happen. I and my comrades appreciate it very much!!!!
My Comrade and I from the 416th arrived near the site around 2:00 PM and followed the signs directing us to the re-enactor entrance. We needed one more set of signs for direction into the barracks is from the maintenance area but we were able to figure it out and proceeded to registration. It was quick and painless and provided us with the necessary information.
We then proceeded to our barracks and met up with our comrades from the 343rd Rifles and 19th Guards. We set up housekeeping in the barracks. The barracks are very nice with ample room as well as kitchen facilities and modern bathrooms.
Ft. Harrison has a terrific location with all sorts of commercial properties (restaurants, retail, etc) within very short driving distance. Just about any and every type of eating establishment is in the area for those who like to eat out. Its proximity to the interstate provides for easy access and we can all appreciate that aspect.
The site is awesome!!!! It has just about every type of terrain available to test Frontoviks navigational and tactical skills. The main cantonment area provides ample room for drill, PT and quasi urban warfare operations in and around the buildings. This site would be good for training and tacticals as well as battle re-enactments.
It was great to see multiple Soviet units attending. I was aware of the 19th Guards, 343rd Rifles, 416th Rifles and 95th Rifles in attendance. This gave us between 20-30 Soviets. I am unsure of the German numbers but I think they were close to the same.
Friday night we took part in the night tactical where the objective was to control a building by the end of a two hour battle. It was quite the experience with controlled fires being set in steel drums around the site. Add to this a simulated enemy artillery barrage using some darn good ground charges lighting up the night sky and sending the report all around the site. . Add to this illumination flares going off as well as the bursts of gunfire and you have a very surreal experience. It was two hours of intense fun.
Saturday morning we were awakened by a lost German soldat who blew his whistle into our barracks very early. I will be sure to repay him for this in the future. LOL! I broke out my little trench stove and went outside to prepare some eggs and meat for breakfast. One cannot chase fascists on an empty stomach. Sadly I had no bacon drippings. LOL!
Saturday afternoon was the public battle and we deployed our 50mm mortar as well as our PPSHs. The gusting winds made it a challenge to drop rounds into the enemy but we did some damage. The battle area is ample for a public battle and will allow for some interesting scenarios. Sadly the battle was very short for some reason. The battlefield area could have used some more props but that is an easy issue to correct.
Later on Saturday afternoon another small tactical was conducted in another area of the park and it was a chance for me to employ my skills as a bicycle subgunner. It was truly an interesting experience with one confirmed kill while mounted. I now need to mark my bicycle in some way to signify this event. Perhaps I should paint a white ring around the top bar of the black frame in a fashion similar to tank kills on the main gun tube. LOL!
Saturday night we were fed a terrific meal of sausage and kraut as well as borscht and wonderful breads to go along with it. It was good food and good friends to enjoy it with. My thanks to those folks who cooked for us!!!!
Saturday night was pretty quiet with our scouts conducting a recon mission to the surrounding area to investigate the activities of the local populace. Although it was discovered that one of the gas mask bags of one of the members of the 19th Guards went missing from the barracks and it contained a digital camera. As of the posting of this AAR I do not believe it has been found.
Bright and early Sunday morning we awoke and set about assembling a patrol to go and look for Germans whom were already waiting for us in an area to conduct another tactical. We spent a delightful 1 ½ hours engaging in search and destroy of a small but determined force of Germans. Some drops of liquid sunshine began to fall as well as a dramatic increase in wind. So we put our trusty plasches and made our way back into the barracks. Due to the high winds and rain I decided to utilize the barracks kitchen and prepare some wonderful Spam sent to us from the USA.
After breakfast we were given the green light to pack our gear and get our barracks cleaned and ready for inspection. Thus we did and when we were cleared we said our farewells and hit the road back to the Peoples Republic of Illinois. LOL!
I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the overall event theme was suppose to be Stalingrad but we had some uniform items such as 43 tunics, PPS 43 SMGs, facial hair etc in use on the Soviet side as well as some uniform issues, weapons issues on the German side which would not have been seen at Stalingrad. Fortunately the majority of folks were in compliance with the scenario guidelines’.
They need to publicize this event much better next time but I understand this is already taken care of for next year.
The initial plan I have heard id to hold this event the same weekend next year. That would be the 1st full weekend of March for 2010 which will be March 6, 7 2010.
I look forward to next year’s Eastern front event and bringing more of the folks from our unit to attend. I encourage other Soviets to do the same. Those who knew about the event but chose not to attend really missed out on a good time.
Sincerely,
Dima
(One who enjoys re-enacting more than politics)
First I want to thank Jeff Cummings and his staff with IDNR for their hospitality and making it possible for us to be on the site. I also want to thank Mark Pennington and his assistants for all they did to make this event happen. I and my comrades appreciate it very much!!!!
My Comrade and I from the 416th arrived near the site around 2:00 PM and followed the signs directing us to the re-enactor entrance. We needed one more set of signs for direction into the barracks is from the maintenance area but we were able to figure it out and proceeded to registration. It was quick and painless and provided us with the necessary information.
We then proceeded to our barracks and met up with our comrades from the 343rd Rifles and 19th Guards. We set up housekeeping in the barracks. The barracks are very nice with ample room as well as kitchen facilities and modern bathrooms.
Ft. Harrison has a terrific location with all sorts of commercial properties (restaurants, retail, etc) within very short driving distance. Just about any and every type of eating establishment is in the area for those who like to eat out. Its proximity to the interstate provides for easy access and we can all appreciate that aspect.
The site is awesome!!!! It has just about every type of terrain available to test Frontoviks navigational and tactical skills. The main cantonment area provides ample room for drill, PT and quasi urban warfare operations in and around the buildings. This site would be good for training and tacticals as well as battle re-enactments.
It was great to see multiple Soviet units attending. I was aware of the 19th Guards, 343rd Rifles, 416th Rifles and 95th Rifles in attendance. This gave us between 20-30 Soviets. I am unsure of the German numbers but I think they were close to the same.
Friday night we took part in the night tactical where the objective was to control a building by the end of a two hour battle. It was quite the experience with controlled fires being set in steel drums around the site. Add to this a simulated enemy artillery barrage using some darn good ground charges lighting up the night sky and sending the report all around the site. . Add to this illumination flares going off as well as the bursts of gunfire and you have a very surreal experience. It was two hours of intense fun.
Saturday morning we were awakened by a lost German soldat who blew his whistle into our barracks very early. I will be sure to repay him for this in the future. LOL! I broke out my little trench stove and went outside to prepare some eggs and meat for breakfast. One cannot chase fascists on an empty stomach. Sadly I had no bacon drippings. LOL!
Saturday afternoon was the public battle and we deployed our 50mm mortar as well as our PPSHs. The gusting winds made it a challenge to drop rounds into the enemy but we did some damage. The battle area is ample for a public battle and will allow for some interesting scenarios. Sadly the battle was very short for some reason. The battlefield area could have used some more props but that is an easy issue to correct.
Later on Saturday afternoon another small tactical was conducted in another area of the park and it was a chance for me to employ my skills as a bicycle subgunner. It was truly an interesting experience with one confirmed kill while mounted. I now need to mark my bicycle in some way to signify this event. Perhaps I should paint a white ring around the top bar of the black frame in a fashion similar to tank kills on the main gun tube. LOL!
Saturday night we were fed a terrific meal of sausage and kraut as well as borscht and wonderful breads to go along with it. It was good food and good friends to enjoy it with. My thanks to those folks who cooked for us!!!!
Saturday night was pretty quiet with our scouts conducting a recon mission to the surrounding area to investigate the activities of the local populace. Although it was discovered that one of the gas mask bags of one of the members of the 19th Guards went missing from the barracks and it contained a digital camera. As of the posting of this AAR I do not believe it has been found.
Bright and early Sunday morning we awoke and set about assembling a patrol to go and look for Germans whom were already waiting for us in an area to conduct another tactical. We spent a delightful 1 ½ hours engaging in search and destroy of a small but determined force of Germans. Some drops of liquid sunshine began to fall as well as a dramatic increase in wind. So we put our trusty plasches and made our way back into the barracks. Due to the high winds and rain I decided to utilize the barracks kitchen and prepare some wonderful Spam sent to us from the USA.
After breakfast we were given the green light to pack our gear and get our barracks cleaned and ready for inspection. Thus we did and when we were cleared we said our farewells and hit the road back to the Peoples Republic of Illinois. LOL!
I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the overall event theme was suppose to be Stalingrad but we had some uniform items such as 43 tunics, PPS 43 SMGs, facial hair etc in use on the Soviet side as well as some uniform issues, weapons issues on the German side which would not have been seen at Stalingrad. Fortunately the majority of folks were in compliance with the scenario guidelines’.
They need to publicize this event much better next time but I understand this is already taken care of for next year.
The initial plan I have heard id to hold this event the same weekend next year. That would be the 1st full weekend of March for 2010 which will be March 6, 7 2010.
I look forward to next year’s Eastern front event and bringing more of the folks from our unit to attend. I encourage other Soviets to do the same. Those who knew about the event but chose not to attend really missed out on a good time.
Sincerely,
Dima
(One who enjoys re-enacting more than politics)
