Taught Bandit Lesson #9068: Sniping Requires Patience

[danielreid 84]

Time: Last night, 6pm server time

Server: US 130

Location: South side of Vysota, north of Cherno

As is often the case in Chernarus, this tale began with the following suggestion, "How long do you think it'll take to check the medic tents in Cherno real quick?" This time, it was I who asked the question. The morphine supply was a bit too low for my comfort. Our Sniper (Thon) guessed, "30 minutes?" We were just north of Prigorodky at the time. My brother (Ered) and I, the more aggressive component of our 4-man squad, decided it was worth the risk.

We had a new member with us (Ello, my sister), but she had zero trouble keeping up with us thus far. Her resolve hadn't wavered yet, despite being pinned down just an hour ago outside of Elektro by a ghillie sniper. Our gear was solid, 2 AK74S Kobras, an M4 CCO, and a Camo Sniper. We had ammo, medical supplies, and plenty of food and water.

Following a brief discussion, we decided to use our usual route - we stuck to the main tree line north of Cherno and skipped through the shorter field into the Vysota hill. From this vantage, our sniper/spotter should be able to cover the two brothers as they make their way across the vast and open field directly north of the Cherno medical tents. We crossed the field to Vysota without any trouble, working our way up and over the hill, beginning to slow down as we approach the treacherous treeline which looks out over Chernogorsk.

Shots rang out. One, two... no, three! Thon made it clear that they were shooting at him - he was the closest to the edge of the trees. It was at this point we knew there was no turning back. It is unlikely that the bandit (InterceptorX) knew at that time that there were four of us. We retreated temporarily further into the trees and made a quick gameplan - Ered and I would move further west down the trees and attempt to spot the shooter.

As we moved quickly now (no reason to go slow when you're under a sniper scope), more shots rang out. We dodged from tree to tree getting further and further to a point with a more clear vantage on whole city. I spotted him first; he was alone, lying prone atop one of the industrial buildings (I lovingly refer to it as 8-stack). A flurry of conversation communicated his location to our sniper, as one-by-one our team got eyes on him. At this point, we were all behind thick trees, only occasionally leaning out to catch a glimpse of him.

I called the play: The moment Thon began shooting, Ered and I would sprint out from cover, heading straight for his position. Ello would cover Thon's back, just in case. "Go!" we called, as the shooting started. I felt the adrenaline begin to flow as I broke out into the well-lit, largely empty field. "Are you with me?!" I called, glancing over my shoulder briefly just long enough to assure myself that my brother was right behind me, about 30 meters to my left. In that moment, the dirt around me began to kick up, as shot after shot landed at our feet.

My brother called out in a pained voice, "I'm hit!" The sniper had swapped to a much more silent and rapid-firing weapon at this point, all his attention fixed on the two runners in the field. I didn't have a sight anymore, as I was almost to the line of buildings. At this point, it seemed as though Thon had hit him 4-5 times, and I was really beginning to worry whether we would ever stop shooting at us. Ered made it to some cover and began to bandage - it was a much smaller bullet that had winged him, so he was not out of it yet.

Thon's voice broke over the radio, "Target down, I got him." Ered and I were almost at the base of the industrial building now, ready to ensure the bandit did not try to escape. We quickly scaled the ladder in stages, stopping to cover each other at each level we climbed. We found a fully loaded DMR, M4 CCO SD, M9 SD, as well as NVGs and Coyote backpack. We quickly grabbed what we could, hid the remaining, and stopped briefly at the medic tents to refill on supplies before heading back to our team.

It is clear to me that this particular bandit, InterceptorX, had gotten lax. He believed that none would challenge him, and had resigned himself to taking pot-shots at the first movement he saw (mostly unarmed citizens), no matter how far away. If only you had waited! If only you had held your fire until you had clear vision and full awareness of what, or who, you were about to engage. Bandits - I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for an easy mark, I can tell you we are not one. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long life in Chernarus. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you pack up and go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

-Tol Eressea

Edited July 23, 2012 by TolEressea

[[email protected] 11]

good story dude!

[Alfwich (DayZ) 14]

Bro Story Cool.

4v1 with obvious outcome. GG.

[[email protected] 86]

Well played and good hunting.

[Zheiko (DayZ) 10]

have my beans, this is how it should be played...

[treshold82 28]

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[danielreid 84]

Glad to hear so many found it enjoyable :) Gotta take the fight to 'dem bandits! I forgot to mention that the reason it took so many shots for Thon to take out the sniper was because of the zombies he pulled with the first couple shots... It was pretty comical:

Me: "Is he down yet?!" (dodging bullets)

Thon: "Hold on, we pulled zombies, gotta take 'em out."

Me: "..."

Edited July 23, 2012 by TolEressea

[jim2006193 2]

If you pack up and go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

Let the games begin! ;)

P.S. Great writeup of the events that took place!

[WalkerDown (DayZ) 296]

For Arma2 forum, it would have been a nice post, but here on dayz a question comes to my mind: ...and the zombies?

...oh wait.

[danielreid 84]

@Walker - the zombies were not really paying attention, due do the "not hearing gunshots" bug ;) In my opinion that makes it still appropriate for here...

@InterceptorX - Until we meet again! /salute

[ben_c 140]

A 4v1 and no-one DC'd / Alt-F4'd?

Beans all round! Hell, I'll even make you some toast for them too.

Great write up.