INTRODUCTION
From atop a high spur to the south-east of Zargabad I looked out across the valley, where the dry riverbed runs east-west, bisecting a pretty terrain of fields, little copses and scattered compounds. Markers on my map told me that 1 PLT (LDDK) was advancing southwards from the city's edge, towards the enemy's outpost on the north bank; but at this distance I couldn't see them without binoculars. Instead, I watched 2 PLT (Folk/ARPS/CiA), advancing down the riverbed. Perhaps thirty dots, moving in formation, part of a total force of sixty-four in our company. Each dot a player; a person. Beyond them, more dots: an enemy patrol blundering unawares towards them up the same riverbed from the west, and others clustered at 2 PLT's objective on the south bank. I could actually see the shape of our attack, and for a long while I was completely lost in the moment: this - the vista, the mission we had created for ourselves, and the people controlling those dots below - is why I've played this family of games for over a decade, and why I helped create the Folk sessions in 2010. It was magical.
Then I opened up with the DShK heavy machine gun on my BTR-40.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Before I go on, or rather back to the start, I want to thank some people. Comrades Spinoza (LDDK) and Variable (CiA), for acting as principle organisers from their respective communities - without these two, the event would not have been possible. Two more enablers, silent heroes in the background: comrade Housemaster (Folk), who wrote the mission; and comrade Nullkigan (ARPS), who arranged and configured the server. From the mission itself, many thanks and congratulations to the senior leaders: COY CO and master tactician, comrade Tigershark (Folk/Tier 1), and his able lieutenants comrades Sami (LDDK) and Unaco (ARPS) of 1 PLT and 2 PLT. Thanks also to the many fireteam and attachment leaders who made the plans real, and finally to all who participated, in whatever capacity. The Folk sessions were founded on the belief that it's not addons, or ranks, or any kind of MilSim that makes for epic tactical experiences in ArmA; just people working together; really great people. You.
SLOTTING
Prior to my moment with the DShK, or driving the BTR-40, before there was even a map on which to place markers, there were over sixty people waiting to slot for the mission. Considerately, people had joined the server well before the advertised start time, with Folk/ARPS/CiA idling on TeamSpeak 3 (TS3) together and LDDK on their own Mumble server. As each individual connected to the game server they de-slotted, clearing the path for when slotting began at the advertised hour. Senior leaders already knew their slots, and 1 PLT was pre-assigned to LDDK, so we left our Finnish friends to organise themselves. For 2 PLT (Folk/ARPS/CiA) we followed the standard Folk approach: fireteam and attachment leaders volunteering first, then everyone else (a practice derived from the slotting procedure at Shack Tactical). There was no qualification to lead an element, save the ability to use TS3's channel commander feature. In the event, we had too many for 2 PLT, the overflow from Folk/ARPS/CiA taking up the JIP slots and at least one attachment from 1 PLT. People were patient, good natured and quick to cut out the banter on voice and chat when asked; so with surprisingly little re-organisation we were soon ready to go, getting the final nod from LDDK via text chat.
BRIEFING
At the briefing screen, COY CO comrade Tigershark (Folk/Tier 1) outlined his plan to comrades Sami (LDDK) and Unaco (ARPS) of 1 PLT and 2 PLT. Borrowing an approach from LDDK-hosted mega-coop missions, these senior leaders were all in the same group, allowing them to bridge the TS3/Mumble divide using ArmA2's Group VON feature. This also allowed them to share markers privately, and to our relief Group VON was to function perfectly for these key individuals throughout the mission. Whilst the senior leaders discussed comrade Tigershark's plan, the rest of the Folk/ARPS/CiA and LDDK players were left to chat amongst themselves in their respective VoIP channels. As COY CO driver, I managed to eavesdrop on the leaders.
The mission had several objectives: we were to overrun enemy outposts on both banks of the dry riverbed, including one at which captured Grad launchers were being kept, then go on to clear Shahbaz and a second unnamed village to its east. Additionally, we were to be on the lookout for enemy tanks operating in the area, and destroy them if possible; this final objective was not really optional for us: with no real armour of our own, we would be compelled to do this or risk having our infantry cut to ribbons in the open. Assuming all these objectives were accomplished, our final task would be to withdraw to safer ground north of the riverbed.
Comrade Tigershark's plan was simple and well considered. The previous day he had studied the terrain, seeking features that might provide us with advantages, such as high points from which to observe and support, or low ground that might mask an advancing force. After an initial movement in vehicles from our base in the north to starting positions south of Zargabad, there were to be three phases:
1. Using the dry riverbed to conceal its advance, 2 PLT was to hit the enemy's main position on the south bank, where the captured Grads were held. Doing this would prevent the enemy from supporting its position on the north bank, which 1 PLT would hit simultaneously. COY CO and 2 PLT's attachments would provide supporting fire from a high spur to the south-east of the city.
2. Next, 1 PLT was to assault south across the river and continue into the unnamed village. 2 PLT would attack from the north-east, with COY CO and 2 PLT attachments supporting from high ground to the south-east (a re-positioning that would require the capture of the gas station at Firuz Baharv).
3. Finally, both platoons would wheel westward and attack the village of Shahbaz, with 1 PLT and 2 PLT taking responsibility for the northern and southern approaches respectively. In this final phase it was hoped that the gently rising ground and low walls (especially to the south) would allow our troops to fall upon the objective before the defenders could engage them in open ground. We feared only tanks.
COMMUNICATION
Having communicated the plan to his direct reports, comrade Tigershark began placing markers on the map for all to see. Comrade Sami briefed 1 PLT (LDDK) in Mumble, whilst comrade Unaco did the same for 2 PLT (Folk/ARPS/CiA) in TS3.
Next, 2PLT refined its communications set up for the last time. Following the approach described in
What is the Folk platoon?, comrade Unaco divided his force into a number of different groupings, each of which was assigned its own TS3 channel: fireteams Alpha and Bravo became the first such group, Charlie and Delta the second, and so on until the platoon was spread out across four channels. To stay in contact, element leaders toggled on TS3's channel commander feature, which allowed them to communicate with each other without moving channels. As COY CO driver, I toggled on this feature also, so I could listen in on the chatter. Comrade Tigershark could similarly listen in on 2 PLT using this facility, but as he made clear during the briefing, he did not want to micro-manage either platoon, nor have every casualty and issue reported to him directly.
Finally, over Group VON, the two platoon commanders checked in to say they were ready. There had been a last minute change of route plan by comrade Sami, who chose to manoeuvre 1 PLT around the west side of Zargabad after discovering there might be light resistance in the city, but this hardly delayed us at all. A little over half an hour since slotting began, we were ready.
ADVANCE TO BATTLE
The majority of our troops would be carried to their start lines in old, open-topped trucks, escorted by lightly armoured BTR-40s (similarly al fresco troop carriers of comparable vintage). Each platoon had one BTR-40; additionally, 1 PLT was charged with a medical M113 and 2PLT with an old ammo truck. It was up to the platoon COs to determine their order of march, but in both cases the DShK-armed troop carriers led the way. From the driver's seat of the COY CO's personal BTR-40, I watched 1 PLT set off on their western route, then waited patiently to fall in line behind 2 PLT's convoy as it motored south towards the centre of Zargabad.
The convoy moved swiftly and without incident through the built up areas, snaking its way towards 2 PLT's start line south-east of the city, where the road to Firuz Baharv crosses the dry riverbed. On the bridge, a small van had been parked across the road, and mines scattered around it. This much I gleaned from reports over TS3, then I was aware of the trucks in front of us stopping, and that beyond them something heavy had begun firing. I pulled our BTR-40 over to the side of the road and manned its DShK.
Bear in mind that Folk and ARPS players do not train or drill, and yet in front of me I saw 2 PLT's fireteams moving, intact, either side of the road, away from the vulnerable trucks and bringing much of the platoon's firepower to bear on the ambush position. The firing stopped. A lone gunman was reported dead at the bridge.
Since we had dismounted so close to the planned start line, comrade Unaco began forming up his platoon to advance down the riverbed. Comrade Tigershark dismounted and moments later there was an unwelcome crackle of gunfire and rounds zipping past. Looking down from the DShK I saw our COY CO wounded on the ground; I quickly dismounted, dragged him to the sheltered side of our vehicle and patched him up as best I could. After comrade Tigershark had climbed back into the BTR-40 I realised that I too was wounded, but it seemed only minor and the COY CO was now anxious for us to push on to the designated overwatch position. I remounted, gunned the engine and we departed the road, bouncing through one last field before crossing the irrigation line and climbing up into the dusty brown hills.
PHASE 1
From atop the spur we had superb visibility over the battlefield, and were quickly joined by men and vehicles from 2 PLT. That platoon's fireteams were already moving down in the riverbed, so it must have been its attachments on the hillside with us. Next, the JIP players rolled up in a truck, which I understand comrade Unaco had sent back for them in a moment of outstanding organisation. Occasional reports from comrade Sami told us 1 PLT was making good progress from its own start line, and overall the company's advance to contact appeared to be shaping up nicely. Only 2MTR (2 PLT's mortar team) was behind schedule, so I drove them to their position in the meadow at the foot of the spur. The ageing troop carrier zoomed scarily down the hillside before dumping out the artillerymen and returning for a distinctly slower ascent, the engine complaining all the way up.
Though both platoons were adhering to the plan, the appearance of an enemy patrol in the riverbed threatened to force comrade Tigershark's hand. The enemy troops seemed blissfully unaware of 2 PLT's presence, but some form of contact was imminent, and it was merely a question of whether the looming firefight would derail our carefully prepared assault. At this moment, comrade Tigershark's positioning of support elements on the high ground paid dividends.
The order to fire was given and heavy rounds from our DShKs rained down upon the enemy's south bank position, the dashed lines of yellow tracers forming a sinister arc over the valley. 2 PLT's fireteams ambushed the enemy patrol in the riverbed, cutting it down in short order. Further afield, 1 PLT had begun its own assault, something I heard more than observed. Finally, there was a distant thunderclap as 2MTR announced its presence to the enemy, black clouds forming near the captured Grads.
With regret, I cannot recount 2 PLT's capture of the south bank objective in any detail, nor its subsequent defence against an enemy counterattack with armour and infantry. Nor can I add anything of 1 PLT's exploits on the north bank, which for me were reduced to the abstract movement of markers on the map. However, I know both platoons did well, not least because (largely due to the 2 PLT chatter on TS3) I quickly felt confident enough to ignore the main frontline, instead focusing my attention on the distant junction at Firuz Baharv.
Like some unloved Dirty Dozen, the JIPs had been sent by comrade Tigershark to capture the gas station at this tiny outpost. The ground surrounding the junction is flat and featureless, making any assault into a waterless beachhead. As with the action in the riverbed, all men were as dots to me, but into this picture drove a new actor. I watched as a BTR-40 (2 PLT's) raced at full speed for the outpost, then circled the buildings with what appeared to be a wilful disregard for the safety of its crew. Perhaps the enemy simply became paralysed with shock and amazement, but the outpost was taken. With it came access to the hill south-west of the junction, from which comrade Tigershark planned to oversee phase two.
Somehow, whilst all this action was unfolding across the valley, a logistics effort of no small measure had taken place. Departing from the COY CO's overwatch position during the assault, the ammo truck manned by 2 PLT had first rolled down to the south bank objective and re-supplied comrade Unaco's fireteams, then continued on to comrade Sami's 1 PLT on the north bank. Later, it would become apparent just how crucial this act of re-supply had been to our success, though it's fair to say that in ArmA2 all infantrymen possess an instinctive desire to acquire more RPG-7s at every opportunity!
PHASE TWO
Earlier, whilst guiding our guests through the slotting process, I had mistakenly omitted the two COY medic positions. Thankfully, we had left AI enabled for all populated groups, so during phase one two uncomplaining AI medics had walked nearly the length of the map to join us on the spur. I'm unsure precisely when, but sometime between phases one and two the magic of JIP caused one of the COY medics to become player-controlled, which is how Tigershark and I came to be joined by comrade SadisticOne. The net result was that when we pulled the BTR-40 onto the eastern slope of the hill by Firuz Baharv, our troop carrier could be driven and gunned simultaneously - a capability we would soon require.
Comrade Tigershark dismounted and walked to the top of the hill, and was rewarded with a excellent view of the unnamed village that we sought to clear in phase two. As I joined the COY CO on the hilltop, friendly elements were pulling up alongside our troop carrier: a second BTR-40 (from 2 PLT), and 2MTR (which began to assemble its support weapon in our makeshift car park). Looking north-west towards the unnamed village, we could see several groups of armed men. One group appeared to see us too, and detaching itself from the outpost began advancing, somewhat gingerly, across the open ground towards our position.
For the first time in the mission we would have to take charge of our own security. Even with 2MTR and others hanging around our newly occupied hill, any fight against the approaching soldiers conducted with small arms would be a fair one. So we resolved to make it unfair. Comrade SadisticOne became my driver, I manned the DShK; at our side, 2 PLT's BTR-40 was made similarly ready, and at Tigershark's command both vehicles lurched forward, up the hill. Caught in the open, the enemy troops were easy game for our heavy calibre machine guns. Despite the meagre number of rounds left over from the previous phase, we dealt with both the immediate threat and others, closer in to the objective.
A mortar strike bloomed in the unnamed village, and comrade Tigershark commented on the risk to civilians (prior to the session, we had agreed to show restraint if the mortar emerged as too powerful a weapon, by means of forbidding strikes on the village centres). Having earlier formed up at new start lines north-east of the unnamed village, the main fighting elements of 2 PLT were now dashing across open ground and falling upon the compounds, little daubs of olive green moving from right to left in my sight picture. It was a wonderful image, but my enjoyment of it would be necessarily cut short moments later.
It might have been a report of a tank filtering through the excited chatter on TS3, or just the belated realisation that with no further rounds to expend, our BTR-40 was now just a perfectly skylined target. Either way, I urged comrade SadisticOne to reverse us back into cover, and was duly glad when my head no longer formed the highest point on the hill.
Whilst 1 PLT and 2 PLT succeeded in securing the unnamed village from the enemy, comrade SadisticOne and I failed in the singular task of rearming our vehicle. The ammo truck, which by this point was surely the most well-travelled unit on the battlefield, had earlier rolled up to our position and parked in the shelter of the hill. We pulled alongside the rear of the truck and waited for our supplies of DShK rounds to be replenished, but alas none were forthcoming. By now the momentum of 2 PLT's assault on the unnamed village was threatening to carry it straight on to the final objective, Shapur, and the COY CO was understandably anxious not to be left too far behind. With comrade SadisticOne at the wheel, and me clutching the handles of our now principally decorative machine gun, comrade Tigershark climbed back in the vehicle and we set off, north-west, towards our final overwatch position.
PHASE THREE
We passed south of the unnamed village and came to a halt in the open. To our north-west we could see Shapur, though our view was partially obscured by trees in the middle distance. The ground before us fell away quickly before rising again, gently, until it reached the edge of the target settlement. For our advancing troops in 2 PLT there was concealment, but less in the way of genuine cover. Further north, the map (and my previous visits to the area) suggested that 1 PLT would be able to get closer to the village before being forced to engage, but in both cases all bets would be off if tanks were to emerge from the enemy's final redoubt.
Over TS3, I heard "Tank!", followed by: "We're out of rockets!"
Exposed, there was no choice but to fall back, and comrade SadisticOne duly spun the vehicle and drove us towards the cover of a nearby compound wall. Deprived of my earlier viewpoint, I now had to piece together a mental picture of the assault from reports coming in over TS3. Snatched glances at the map told me 1 PLT had surrounded the northern half of Shapur, but had yet to pierce the inner perimeter; 2 PLT, its lines seemingly more fluid, was advancing from the south-east. The sudden appearance of an enemy tank, and 2 PLT's lack of appropriate munitions, was threatening to stall the whole attack - an observation I was not alone in making, judging by the increasingly frantic tone of requests from 2 PLT fireteam leaders.
The village where we had parked was littered with the enemy's dead, so I jumped down from the vehicle and raced from pillar to post, hoping to recover an RPG round. It was a desperate business, but all that I could do at this moment (the toothless BTR-40's wafer thin armour was no match for even a T-34). Meanwhile, comrade Tigershark was using Group VON to convey the urgency of 2 PLT's situation to comrade Sammi, directing him to engage the enemy tank if at all possible.
I never found an RPG round in the village, but over TS3 I listened as someone's (I guess from 1 PLT) found the enemy tank. By the time I had scrambled back to our vehicle, Shahbaz had fallen.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
All this occurred inside a computer game. The server transmits player statistics to third-party websites, the game itself will tell each player how many soldiers s/he killed. Throughout the mission, several guests will have captured video footage using software like FRAPS, still more will have taken screenshots. There's no need to remember the event yourself, because we can outsource that task to software. Yet some real-world traditions concerning the documentation of history, even if it is an imagined one, persist in the simulated world. I think it is because they are as much a part of the experience we seek as the combat.
After Shahbaz had been secured, I ceased to be the COY CO driver and returned to my earlier role of session host. Directly, and via comrade Tigershark, I asked for all surviving members of the company to assemble at the northern entrance to the village. Comrades from LDDK to the east of the road, those from Folk/ ARPS/CiA to the west; all formed up for a group photo. Comrade Tigershark congratulated everyone on a successfully executed mission, thanking all for their efforts and participation. Screenshots were taken, video footage recorded. A collection of fifty-plus soldiers in olive green, standing and kneeling in front of an imaginary village in an imaginary country where they worked hard together for an hour; each soldier a player; a person. You.
Then we moved on, dodging the T34 with nice smooth move - just as we got onto its flank and into our range, someone else cooked it. I wasnt to argue 
