I'm finally blogging something that isn't a random thought or CoH.
I wish a couple of things: that I had gone for the first day and that I had a better camera. Actually my bro has a better camera, but I don't know how to use it properly and it isn't nice taking it without his permission or at short notice.
Narrowly avoided death by chicken nugget in the morning. On the way to Suntec, I dropped by the War Memorial Park and sat around a while, then moved off. Overland around that time is much calmer, more my kind of place than Citylink; only two other people in the park besides me, and they were taking photos.
There wasn't much of a ticketing queue around by the time I got to the hall, so I just picked mine up and walked in. The ticket was slightly reflective and I wondered how they were going to keep track of the pass holders who went in and out. I supposed it was a stamp-like thing, which was right. There were a couple of cosplayers hanging around, but not as many as later. A few I couldn't recognize, but I wasn't surprised since I don't consider myself into animu hardcore-like anyway. The place was smaller than I had imagined, but still pretty big and noisy still.
I was supposed to meet JY, but he didn't respond for the moment. Not that I didn't have anything to do on my own. I walked around the booths, took a look at KKnM, took a look at its queue, and went somewhere else. Had my eye on some figurines in the meantime, but couldn't decide whether to buy them or not. I don't like to spend money on a whim. There was a nice Shining Wind one, but it was $90, and I had $100 for everything including meals and the slightly shiny $5 red ticket. There was a figma Rin, which I would get later in the day, but of course I didn't know that at 10.32am. So I spent an hour browsing for would-be loot. Also walked through the Sky Crawlers and Genius Party sections. The planes thingy looked interesting, but I forgot to look it up at home. A few minutes was spent in front of the Toradora TV. There were some domo-kun shirts and some CDs at the far right end, near the prints, but I suddenly lost interest when I saw the Odex logo. There were figurines to be bought with the money in any case.
Found JY, or was found. Went and watched Melty Blood a while. But fighting games aren't really my type, so I resumed walking around some more after watching the same guy beat coms and random challengers with Nanaya Shiki, trying to come to some sort of decision about where my money was going. Got some general advice about figurines from JY, which will most probably govern my choices in the future. I got the figma Rin when Ian and Dian came, putting an abrupt end to the need to decide if I was going to get a more expensive $90 figure. A decent buy, well within the budget, and great with the lighting where I have it at home. Well-positioned yellow light, dark backdrop and dark wood flooring makes most figurines look good. I'll take a photo with my bro's camera some time. After lunch, Ian, Joel's and Dian's departure, stoning near the Melty Blood corner was the order of the day. I tried reading Paddy Clarke Ha^3, but dozed into half consciousness for about 15 minutes. Guess I shouldn't have played CoH automatch and slept at 2 the night before (and got up at 7). I did win though, against a Brit player who went too heavy on the anti-infantry and died when I did my tank call-ins and vetted my infantry. On hindsight, I could have ended the game earlier by playing less conservatively, like flaming his centre mortar pit, calling in the StuH sooner and sleeping earlier.
Dneo came later, and after some walking around again and purchasing an A3 Hatsune Miku print, which is still waiting for a place on my wall, I watched him play Melty Blood. He played pretty impressively and beat more or less everybody who came around. But he said he wasn't really that good. My eyes and hands are untrained at fighting games anyway. He offered to let me play on his credit, but I didn't want to embarrass myself. I'm content with feeling secure with CoH and RTS anyway.
I felt awkward when Dneo and JY were walking around with me, pointing out things that were cool, while I could only respond with a 'mm' or raise an eyebrow, even though I did think those things were pretty nice. Some really nice figures in the display section. Noticed how they did the lighting. I had seen some of the pieces while browsing online before, like Alter's Chua Churam and a gigantic angel-thing that looked really cool and expensive too.
I don't really need to say much about the May'n concert. One of the first actual concerts I'd gone to that I had taken an interest in. As I looked around, I saw more hardcore fanboys/girls. There was a scary lady, who was jumping up and down. Alas so much for no photography. I liked the songs, loved them Live. The bass sort of reverberated through me and the crowd. And I thought my subwoofer was pretty good. It's striking how much difference in the sound quality there is when you bend down into the crowd to reach your bag.
Got more animu-smart thanks to JY and Dneo yay. Too bad Herrick wasn't around. But I'm sure he's doing good work in Sabah. Next year, we'll all be free from IB. More chalet and more conventions.
=)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Combat Skirmish Post-battle analysis Part 2
w.r.t topography of previous post.
Gametype: Rubix Assault
Each team has a Rubix Cube in a certain strategic location:
Red: Wishing Well
Yellow: Outside 5.17
The first team to solve their opponents' Rubix Cube wins. Otherwise, the team with a Cube in a visibly more completed state will win at the end of the time limit.
Red and Yellow swapped bases, with Yellow beginning in the IB block, and Red at the Old Audi.
One major difference between Round 1 and this round: Lives are henceforth expendable. The last round depended on inflicting more casualties than those taken, hence truly aggressive play was curtailed by the requirement of survival. Such a criterion is removed in this round, and as a result, the ability to take and hold ground is now of a higher importance than survival. This is because the objective (i.e. solving the Rubix Cube) depends on infantry (since that's pretty much the only basic unit around, save for perhaps support units like MGs or snipers) holding the area around the Rubix Cube long enough for the 'engineer' to solve it.
The most significant action in the early game took place at the IB bridge, with the bulk of Red and a significant mass of Yellow forces engaging there. Yellow committed fewer forces to the bridge, as a decent number, at least 10 were seen in the vicinity of the Admin Office. Another action which would have an impact on later game map control would be Yellow's occupation of the level 4 IB balcony (near 5.1, otherwise known as the Sniper's Nest): 2 MGs, 1 Sniper and 1 SMG.
As with the previous game, the firefight at the bridge produced a similar stalemate in the early stages, but once a base of fire had been established at the Sniper's Nest, Red started taking fast casualties, as there was no cover where Red infantry could simultaneously take cover from the support fire and resist Yellow's infantry on the bridge effectively. As such, the bridge control began to swing in Yellow's favour. Yellow's sniper was delirious with an almost sick kind of pleasure.
Despite the intense early-game action at the bridge, the main theater, if you may have it, of concern would have been the Spaceframe, the control of which would give either side a springboard to solve their opponents' Cube. Unfortunately for Red, the MG/Sniper positions at the SN ensured that any of Red's attempts to exert control over the Spaceframe would be blunted, at least until the SN was cleared. Which it was never, save for one possible close-call instance around mid-game.
Most of the mid-game was composed of pushes and retreats on the part of Yellow at the Spaceframe, likewise with Red, the main difference being the deeper advance of Yellow and hence greater success at solving the Rubix Cube. Effective leadership on the part of Yellow also ensured that pushes were made boldly and regularly. For Yellow, there were 2 components aiding in the success of their advances: Infantry and Support. Groups of about 8+ Yellow ground infantry would contest the Spaceframe, supported by the Support MGs and Sniper in the SN, the latter having a very large field of vision (and consequently, number of easy targets) due to their elevated position. The Spaceframe would be relatively easily taken, as MGs took out what they could see in the Spaceframe and shot at the legs of those at the Wishing Well, aiding the ground advance. Once inside, at the Wishing Well, the ground advance was on its own, unable to receive any support from the SN. Coupled with the ever-increasing numbers of newly respawned Red troops, I imagine it wasn't easy solving the Cube. Nevertheless, at the end of the game, Yellow's Cube was in a more completed state than Red's, thus winning the round. This success in pushing the advance forward came at the cost of more casualties among the assault troops of course, who as in the previous game seemed to all come back to respawn at the same time.
Inevitably, after a Yellow retreat, came the Red counterattack. However, despite the temporary advantage in numbers, Red pushes were not as effective in getting to its objective (the Red Cube). Also, when Red defeated the Yellow blob around the Wishing Well Cube, it inevitably came into line of sight for the SN's support fire crew, who blunted Red's advance at the Spaceframe with volume of fire, giving time for Yellow's ground troops to regroup and push again. In this way, Red barely got to their objective Cube, except for one instance when a small group of Red troops managed to get past the MGs to the General Office area, engaging 2 Yellow troops, including Yellow's SMG guard/close-quarters defence, causing the SN's support crew some short-lived panic.
This round was much more chaotic, and hence more difficult to assess map control as compared to the previous round, but the end found Yellow with a lead in the state of completion of their Rubix Cube. Frontlines kept changing with each push, but for the most part few Red troops managed to push as far as the IB Cube.
The strategic control the SN exerted on the battlefield was significant. The support fire crew at the SN had a full view of both the bridge and Spaceframe, essentially controlling all possible avenues of travel from the Red base to the IB Cube. This dominance was used to devastating effect at the sparse-of-cover, small bridge, with the bridge falling into Yellow's hands early on and staying there. On the Spaceframe side, it served as an obstacle to Red's advances, stopping or at least delaying the advances until Yellow could reinforce with ground infantry. Also, Red made few attempts to remove the SN, with only a few shots being fired at the general direction of its slightly high occupants. Few other vantage points in Red's possession could compare to the geographical advantage provided by the SN. One possible exception was the Old Audi windows, also on the 3.5th to 4th level, and these were used late-game to shoot at the Yellows on the bridge, inflicting some casualties. However, these snipers were spotted by the SN crew, who, mistaking them for dangerous counter-snipers, shot at them a lot, forcing them to withdraw.
Not to forget the ground advance of course, the basic point of playing aggressive and rushing infantry en masse worked yet again. Somewhat crude, but effective, especially against unsupported positions. Red displayed some excellent examples of localized diversion, where one member of the squad charged out as a distraction, while the others followed behind later to complete the killing.
Again, I have less of an idea how Yellow control of the bridge affected the game overall, though it is a high possibility that the action there tied up substantial amounts of Red's attention, easing the resistance encountered by the Spaceframe attacks.
Gametype: Rubix Assault
Each team has a Rubix Cube in a certain strategic location:
Red: Wishing Well
Yellow: Outside 5.17
The first team to solve their opponents' Rubix Cube wins. Otherwise, the team with a Cube in a visibly more completed state will win at the end of the time limit.
Red and Yellow swapped bases, with Yellow beginning in the IB block, and Red at the Old Audi.
One major difference between Round 1 and this round: Lives are henceforth expendable. The last round depended on inflicting more casualties than those taken, hence truly aggressive play was curtailed by the requirement of survival. Such a criterion is removed in this round, and as a result, the ability to take and hold ground is now of a higher importance than survival. This is because the objective (i.e. solving the Rubix Cube) depends on infantry (since that's pretty much the only basic unit around, save for perhaps support units like MGs or snipers) holding the area around the Rubix Cube long enough for the 'engineer' to solve it.
The most significant action in the early game took place at the IB bridge, with the bulk of Red and a significant mass of Yellow forces engaging there. Yellow committed fewer forces to the bridge, as a decent number, at least 10 were seen in the vicinity of the Admin Office. Another action which would have an impact on later game map control would be Yellow's occupation of the level 4 IB balcony (near 5.1, otherwise known as the Sniper's Nest): 2 MGs, 1 Sniper and 1 SMG.
As with the previous game, the firefight at the bridge produced a similar stalemate in the early stages, but once a base of fire had been established at the Sniper's Nest, Red started taking fast casualties, as there was no cover where Red infantry could simultaneously take cover from the support fire and resist Yellow's infantry on the bridge effectively. As such, the bridge control began to swing in Yellow's favour. Yellow's sniper was delirious with an almost sick kind of pleasure.
Despite the intense early-game action at the bridge, the main theater, if you may have it, of concern would have been the Spaceframe, the control of which would give either side a springboard to solve their opponents' Cube. Unfortunately for Red, the MG/Sniper positions at the SN ensured that any of Red's attempts to exert control over the Spaceframe would be blunted, at least until the SN was cleared. Which it was never, save for one possible close-call instance around mid-game.
Most of the mid-game was composed of pushes and retreats on the part of Yellow at the Spaceframe, likewise with Red, the main difference being the deeper advance of Yellow and hence greater success at solving the Rubix Cube. Effective leadership on the part of Yellow also ensured that pushes were made boldly and regularly. For Yellow, there were 2 components aiding in the success of their advances: Infantry and Support. Groups of about 8+ Yellow ground infantry would contest the Spaceframe, supported by the Support MGs and Sniper in the SN, the latter having a very large field of vision (and consequently, number of easy targets) due to their elevated position. The Spaceframe would be relatively easily taken, as MGs took out what they could see in the Spaceframe and shot at the legs of those at the Wishing Well, aiding the ground advance. Once inside, at the Wishing Well, the ground advance was on its own, unable to receive any support from the SN. Coupled with the ever-increasing numbers of newly respawned Red troops, I imagine it wasn't easy solving the Cube. Nevertheless, at the end of the game, Yellow's Cube was in a more completed state than Red's, thus winning the round. This success in pushing the advance forward came at the cost of more casualties among the assault troops of course, who as in the previous game seemed to all come back to respawn at the same time.
Inevitably, after a Yellow retreat, came the Red counterattack. However, despite the temporary advantage in numbers, Red pushes were not as effective in getting to its objective (the Red Cube). Also, when Red defeated the Yellow blob around the Wishing Well Cube, it inevitably came into line of sight for the SN's support fire crew, who blunted Red's advance at the Spaceframe with volume of fire, giving time for Yellow's ground troops to regroup and push again. In this way, Red barely got to their objective Cube, except for one instance when a small group of Red troops managed to get past the MGs to the General Office area, engaging 2 Yellow troops, including Yellow's SMG guard/close-quarters defence, causing the SN's support crew some short-lived panic.
This round was much more chaotic, and hence more difficult to assess map control as compared to the previous round, but the end found Yellow with a lead in the state of completion of their Rubix Cube. Frontlines kept changing with each push, but for the most part few Red troops managed to push as far as the IB Cube.
The strategic control the SN exerted on the battlefield was significant. The support fire crew at the SN had a full view of both the bridge and Spaceframe, essentially controlling all possible avenues of travel from the Red base to the IB Cube. This dominance was used to devastating effect at the sparse-of-cover, small bridge, with the bridge falling into Yellow's hands early on and staying there. On the Spaceframe side, it served as an obstacle to Red's advances, stopping or at least delaying the advances until Yellow could reinforce with ground infantry. Also, Red made few attempts to remove the SN, with only a few shots being fired at the general direction of its slightly high occupants. Few other vantage points in Red's possession could compare to the geographical advantage provided by the SN. One possible exception was the Old Audi windows, also on the 3.5th to 4th level, and these were used late-game to shoot at the Yellows on the bridge, inflicting some casualties. However, these snipers were spotted by the SN crew, who, mistaking them for dangerous counter-snipers, shot at them a lot, forcing them to withdraw.
Not to forget the ground advance of course, the basic point of playing aggressive and rushing infantry en masse worked yet again. Somewhat crude, but effective, especially against unsupported positions. Red displayed some excellent examples of localized diversion, where one member of the squad charged out as a distraction, while the others followed behind later to complete the killing.
Again, I have less of an idea how Yellow control of the bridge affected the game overall, though it is a high possibility that the action there tied up substantial amounts of Red's attention, easing the resistance encountered by the Spaceframe attacks.
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