To the twin Ghillie suited bandits my squad encountered yesterday. One of whom was called "Player 1" Good battle. Although you guys came out victorious, I’m still proud that we managed to take one of you bushy bastards out. Especially when you had the jump on us. I can’t believe your last guy killed all 3 of our squad. Your heart must have been raceing! Were you bleeding throughout the encounter? How did you shoot me and The Paiz through a tree? Was our cover broken? Did you stumble across us or were you actively hunting? A breakdown of the encounter. Myself and two other squad members. Armament: Myself: AS50 2 clips, AK Kobra 3 Clips (No Costume) The Paiz: DMR 3 Clips, M14A2 Multi Clips (No Costume) Luke: AS50 (No rounds) FN FAL 1 Clip (He had just picked up a AS50 but had no rounds, gave his DMR to The Paiz) (No Costume) We had just hit Stary however after a case of friendly fire (My Bad Luke), we headed north to get away from the noise we had made and to take up position at Altar for a view of the surrounding Valleys in case of a CCS spawn. With no luck, we continued south east. After getting a little turned around with zombies and what we thought was a repairable ATV we decided to stop in a forest and decided our next move. Kneeling in the forest we checked our maps, took our rations and were about to set off when we heard a shot come from the town we had just passed, the town was now South over a ridge line but heavily forested up until the town itself. About 150m to our direct North was a small shack with 2-3 zombies, spawned due to our presence. After the initial shot we dove for cover behind trees, checking our FOV in the direction the shot came from. Another shot rang out, this one sounding closer. Followed by another. At this point we could not pin point its location, but we were sure it was not being aimed at us as we had not heard the usually wizz and the shots sounded too faint. Suddenly on the southern ridgeline The Paiz who was located at middle point position of our formation shouted he saw two players, Luke on the left flank saw the same. Two Players were confirmed, heading W along the southern ridge. We are now in a heavy forested battlefield. Enemies on the Southern Ridgeline. Us at a dipping point with another Ridgeline to our north. I saw the tango's and confirmed they had Ghillie suits, at the same point the Enemy confirmed our presence and took cover behind a large oak tree on the southern ridge. Ducking back in cover i pulled out my AS50 and took prone position looking up at the ridge line. Gun fire rings out, they have seen us and were engaging our point man. (The Paiz) He ducks for cover and let off a few of his M14A2 rounds in their direction, He gave me direction of the shooter he engaged and i scoped from behind tree cover into the confirmed direction. Down sights i see both Ghille suit Players. Both now engaging our point man with heavy sniper fire. The Paiz is weaving between trees moving closer to tango’s to get effective range with his M14A2. Maintaining his middle point position in our formation although it is now breaking apart. I let lose 3-4 AS50 Anti Material Rounds, Player 1 Dead. We have a confirmed kill. Blood spilling in the air around the tree they were using as cover. The blood itself now silhouetted on the ridge line. I began proneing backwards towards my North, using a tree to reduce LOS between me and the enemy position. I wanted more height we were in a slight dip and around 100m more north was another ridge line I could use. Unfortunately my fire had attracted the zombies to our NE near the shack. Yelling for more cover as I was still scoping for the second bandit. The Paiz turned around and using his M14A2 put them down with 2 accurate shots. Back to PVP. Confirming that we had now reduced the enemy by 1, The Paiz using tree cover pulled out his DMR and sighted down range to engage the remaining sniper. He was crouched and peeking out, looking for the shot. Through our headset we hear that he has target insight and then "Engaging" Holding our breath, myself and Luke hear his fire. He Missed. Just over the enemies shoulder. (It could of ended here) The enemy Ghillie sniper was altered to where The Paiz shots had come from and scoped him. Paiz ducked for cover back behind his closest tree. Shots rang out from the enemy position and The Paiz was down. Either enemy had an AS50 and the round had blasted through the tree or these guys had a 3rd member in a SE position. Who knows? We assumed we had cover. I quickly scoped the location now silhouetted by the blood and saw the second bandit moving around the same oak tree. Assumed it was the sniper that had just killed The Paiz. Then I heard an all too familiar zombie groan to my left. De-Scoping i pointed at the zombie now running towards me from the shack situated 75m to my left. Bang! with my AS50. Zombie down. Back to it. Scoping down range, I’ve lost the sniper he must be behind that oak again. I see movement but i can’t tell what body part is his. I see his dead mate bleeding on the ridge. Then i see him change LOS and his gun in silhouetted. I let loose the last of my A50 rounds. In all the commotion i forgot to re zero or adjust correctly as i had now moved 25-30m N from original engagement opposition. My shots went high. Now out of AS50 Ammo. Meanwhile Luke, unfortunately with no ammo in his AS50 and 1 Mag in his FAL he could not be effective against this enemy. He proned. Waiting in cover. Now realising that we were in a bit of trouble I quickly swapped back to my AK Kobra. Using the Russian kobra sights I took breath then looked down range and let off 5-8 rounds. Then rolled back behind my cover tree. Luke yelled out he can see the guy bleeding. Maybe there is hope. Suddenly a shot zings past me. I’m in his sights.. I moved more to the right, using the tree as LOS cover from where i believe the enemy was still positioned. Shot Hits my tree. Another, then another. Moving right. Towards me. As i was about to roll and continue to do so until i reached the next tree to my right, another shot came through the tree and i was hit. Game over. Next was Luke. Without any form of defence capability he was done for. The Sniper picked him off within 30 seconds of my death. The battle was over. All three of us now shaking with adrenaline. No doubt that last enemy was the happiest mother fu**er in the world. I’m sure he was on the verge of a heart attack after his buddy went down. In the end I’m disappointed that 1 Remaining Enemy Squad member was able to eliminate us. But that’s how it played out, hopefully next time the results will be different. 30min after spawn, all three of us were back on our feet. Fully equipped. Just need some Crash Sites. Lessons for next encounter: -Don’t let off Valuable Sniper rounds in quick succession. Although effective as a Shock and Awe policy for initial engagement, if not properly equipped it can be a hindrance during extended battles. -All squad members must have ammo for their primary weapons. If not then we need to Farm Un-populated servers for Additional Ammunition. -Choose weapons with more widely available ammo. AS50 Rounds are impossible to find. -If holding in a forest for a period of time, ensure that we have large degree of separation or are in heavy cover. -If zombies are in engagement zone they need to be eliminated ASAP. Pre shots, followed by targeted shots. -Using a tree as cover is good for temporary engagements. Move to higher ground or more solid cover for 3+ minute engagements. This can be achieved via cover & firing manoeuvres. - Smoke grenades. Seemed useless previously but now I think the small amount of cover they can provided would be useful in order to move to a more solid position during a sniper battle. I wasn’t really upset after this encounter, it was bloody awesome. Although I’m starting again I feel we really learnt allot. I managed to kill a Ghillie suited sniper. If that isn’t an achievement, I don’t know what would be. To the bandit that survived the only reason you lived is because of your Ghillie and our lack of supplies. I don’t know how you and your buddy found us but I hope he is pissed that he lost his Ghillie. GG
