Veckring writeup

Journey to France

Coming only a few days after the SBG game, the UE Electrowagon of Paintball Justice was already out EUnited States of EU, so it was only about 12 hours drive away from Veckring. A few shifts and a stopover, and UE's advance forces were there. CharlieTwo decided to have a few days investigating Prague for some extra espionage tips. Joining us on Friday were Capt Price and Soap, who drove over in their car, and thus the UE AVENGERS ASSEMBLED at Veckring.

Veckring is an established game, having been around for 15 or so years. It's a normally medium-sized big game, but this year was much larger. This is due to some excellent thong-driven social media promotion, at least 800 players had turned up, including some of the UBG crew which was very welcome.

First, a quick recap on the field at Veckring is in order. The majority of the field is dominated by several large buildings with multiple floors and entrance points. Outside each building were a mixture of open and wooded areas offering possible attack routes. There's also a speedball area, as well as a set of channels with various barriers protected by hedges. They also have their comedy sexy Veckring nurse respawn stations, some cute micro-tanks, a BBQ party and some pretty cool safezone antics.

However, unlike previous years, this year's Veckring was taking place during a freak solar storm. Throughout the weekend, the solar discharge slowly burnt off the troposphere, leaving a burning hyper radiated crust at around 4000 degrees kelvin. This made progress difficult, with many paintballs bouncing off players, turning to ash then ultimately a primordial plasma.

Friday

After securing Stilsuits and rad-medication, UE walked the field and caught up with the various teams. Many regulars such as General Ken, Über-spionagemeister Lazarus, Team NRW, Black Legion, De Beer Clan, and many others. The Germans had quickly established some "living space" and set up a well-organised camp which UE joined. After setting up some much-needed shade, UE made their way to reception where we met the legendary Anastasiia and her various assistants: The Ukraine-o-crew.

For the first time in UE's lives, actual females offered to take us to the VIP area. We, of course, agreed and saw firsthand the newest addition to the Veckring setup. This was a really cool (literally) VIP area with great views over the play zone. It also offered a poker table, a great set of sofas, shisha but most importantly: fridges full of cold drinks.

With as much set up as possible, we retired to the UE AirBnB in the nearby city of Metz. Dinner was prepped and ready to be cooked up. An evening of tunes, beers and a curry followed, all with a beautiful sunset as the cherry on top.

Saturday

The next morning was a bit of a rush. We needed to get onsite, but as usual, the paintball site has problems taking card payments. An emergency bank visit was required, alongside purchases of vital bread and hummus for glorious digestive battle. Once onsite, it was time for registration, filling up paint pots, and finally we could relax into General Ken's feature-length tactical briefing.

The game had a nuclear theme, with various game objectives including finding Uranium, refining it, and so forth. There were 4, 60-minute games on the first day, and 3 on the second day... with a final last-man standing event at the end.

Game 1 was Uranium Recovery. The Uranium was yellow rocks which were in various objects such as briefcases or lockboxes. Our initial approach was to control the centre of the field, in particular a building called The Kitchen. This should allow others in the team to secure and return the Uranium.

After charging up the field, UE managed to break into the Kitchen through a health and safety approved window entrance. Once there, the front line could be secured. Team SBG then reinforced and we were able to push round the flanks of the building. From here it was a case of trying to keep the field domination aim alive.

After 45 mins of hard fighting and pushing the line back toward the Blue spawn, UE were out of gas and paint. With empty guns, we opted to go looking for left over Uranium as we patrolled back.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Team Blue were quicker at getting the Uranium: scoring marginally more points than us. A victory for Team Blue. Time to restock and get ready for Game 2. The temperature was soaring to over 4000 degrees Kelvin, and it was time to get some shade and rehydrate.

Game 2 was about Uranium Enrichment. The objective was to enrich the uranium ore from Game 1. This was done at a machine in the centre of the field in relative no-mans land. Once enriched, they needed to be returned to the sapwn/safe zone. We began quickly with another charge to the Kitchen, which is one of the tactical firing points of the field. A few of us managed to get into the building again, and with some major momentum we began to lock down the angles around the building.

Alongside the UBG crew we were able to push round. Brutal fighting followed, and we slowly took the next building over the next 30 mins. Pushing hard and bit-by-bit, UE and the SBG crew were able to take the lanes and control the field. Eventually the field ended up almost entirely in Team Red hands. However, in a frustrating turn... Team Blue managed to actually score more than Team Red. This was a little gutting as we'd managed near total field control for most of the game.

As we sat down to prep for Game 3, we could feel the headaches and dizziness from dehydration/sunstroke kicking in. We realised that we'd all drunk several litres of water and were still as dry as Ghandi's flip-flop. We finished another bottle, had some snacks. Most of us decided it was better to sit this game out, except the DEUTCHE-INATOR, CharlieTwo. We headed to the Backstage zone which was substantially cooler to prevent anything more medically serious happening. Sunstroke is no joke!

CharlieTwo's post-human physiology was able to deal with the heat, and he battled the game out collecting parts for the reactor. This was a winner takes all event, and with everyone withering in the heat, Team Blue were able to complete their build first.

After having spent an hour literally chilling with the VIPs in the backstage area, UE were finally rehydrated and cooled enough to join Game 4, called High voltage. By running a long cable to the centre then energising a special cross, the reactors could be tested. Being a bit demoralised with the area control approach, UE stuck close to the objective.

With some brutal fighting, UE managed to lock down the firing angles looking at the enemy cables. With Team Blue scoring the objective, points denial from UE seemed to work.

After a difficult 60 minutes of tactical play, Team Red secured the points and were back in the game!

Saturday Night

There is a player party at Veckring, with the famous Nurses and so forth. UE, however, went back to their AirBnb, and hung out in Metz where it turns out there's loads of girls... and you don't even have to pay for them! UE showered, jumped in a taxi and hit the town, French style. After taxi races, a luxury tasty dinner and a walk through the beautiful town, UE heading finally to the Mermaid Tavern.

They secured vital beer-based objectives. However, with metal bands playing and the Bar anniversary to celebrate... UE had to escalate. Moving zone to zone, they secured Jaegerbombs and took the fight to their livers in true style. They returned thoroughly refreshed and rehydrated after a solid evening.

Sunday Game

Waking with clear heads and definitely no hangovers, UE sped back to the site. After a quick set up, they were ready to take the field again.

Game 1 was themed around a Reactor Startup. Two oil-barrel fires were set in no-man's land. Each team scored points for keeping this alight using wood they had been given. UE spread out and attacked the building. CharlieTwo took the top floor taking an excellent sniping position. Fingerblast worked her way down the left side giving covering fire while Soap and Ricktion charged over the road. They tucked into forward crossfire positions allowing Price to get to a barricade next to the fire. From these vantage points UE were able to lock down the angles of attack. It was tough fighting, but Team Red had the upper hand.

Team Red slowly added fire over the hour, with Team Blue unable to effectively reach theirs. Blue fought hard, but the UE line was too strong. With efficient scoring and support from the UBG crew, the objective was safely in our control and the enemy were denied. The game went to Red!

Unfortunately, at this point, CharlieTwo had to get packed up and head back to Germany! UE were down to 4.

With it being 2-3, the next game was all to play for! As the temperature rose, UE returned to the safe zone to rehydrate. However, as often happens with Veckring, the numbers had started to wane which was a real shame, as the game was on a knife edge!

Game 2 was a hilarious concept. A barrel of water was placed next to each safezone. In the centre were two reactor reserves, which were large barrel sized containers. The objective was to ferry as much water from the safezone into the central reactor. UE quickly charged and attempted to get the objective secured. Fighting through the buildings, then securing angles was done efficiently. However, due to the position, the best that could be achieved was a contested approach: possible, but difficult.

In order to make this work efficiently, UE applied their GIGAbrains and thought of advanced methods of play.

UE took a large, watertight camping tub bucket and filled it up. We ferried this through the approach building. Soap then made a mad dash to the barrel reactor. Diving into cover, he got the perfect position... However, in an act of comedy genius, he also accidentally emptied 70% of the water over himself. At least 15 litres. A now soaking Soap managed to pour the last 30% into the reserve. A moist partial victory, and a good 5-7L in the reactor.

However, Marshals stepped into to point out that this act of Giga-brainery was no longer allowed. 1L containers were now the max, even though this wasn't in the initial rules. Boo!

As the game played out, the numbers thinned. It ended up with only 20 or so of Team Red versus maybe 40-50 of Team Blue. Many heroic runs from Price, Soap and others scored more water, but Team Blue had a more reliable approach to the target and it ended up a little one-sided. A fun game, but a victory for Team Blue, effectively winning the game!

As temperatures soared to over 4000 degrees Kelvin again, most of UE needed to pack down. Many others had to leave also at this point, and it was a shame to miss the last game. We missed the third game as we packed up and resisted falling to heatstroke. Game 3 was another hilarious concept: a sumo fight, with players from each faction fighting in a ring in the centre of the game. However, as mentioned, the attrition of players was so high there was maybe 50 or so people left playing. As Soap and Price headed off, driving back to catch their Calais train, Ricktion and Fingerlast watched Game 4: a sudden death Hunger Games death match.

Summary

Veckring has been growing over the last few years. They've also changed a fair bit over the three years UE have been playing. This much for the better. There is much more of a community feeling, and owner Mickael and social media guru Anastasiia have made a lot of improvements here. Players being able to choose plots, actively engaging in the community, VIP areas and numerous other little touches are big improvements.

The games were often a little chaotic, but most had fun premises and good opportunities. As with some other games, they could end up static. Mobile respawns, behind enemy lines drops, and a number of other ideas could fix this. However, these are small gripes and mostly they were pretty well executed.

It was an absolute scorcher this year, so a few of the issues we faced were simply due to the oppressive and little dangerous climate. At least - dangerous for pasty Brits. This is more to do with our genetics, not the game itself. Despite the jokes, there was water and food available onsite, so all was good.

Veckring has usually been a medium-sized "big game", but with the new energy in the Management, as well as the goodwill they have fostered in the community, who knows. It could be their time to be the next regular big "Big game". They'll need to keep improving, but they're already well on the way to being the next big thing.

Top fun, and UE recommends this next year. We award it: Croissant/10!