We visited Nashville, NT over the Memorial Day weekend to spend some time with my family. The wife and I stopped in at the Opry Mills mall for a few hours on Sunday. I was in Kay-be-toys when something caught my eye. They had three M72 rocket launchers! These toys were supposed to be recalled due to safely problems and are near impossible to find. Rather than point this small fact out to the store employees I took the remaining launchers off of their hands...to keep the kids safe. They lot cost me less than a cheap video game though my wife was less than impressed. These are the same launchers used by Rusty's Paintball in their M72 LE ball valve launchers. I'll be converting at least one launcher using the thunder grenade design. I'm still debating to sell one or two but I'm torn since they are so hard to find.
 

 

 
Rusty's M72 LE LAWGiver

 

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OES V rocked! We played a constant game from 9:30 AM-8:30 PM (11 hours!) and a few hours of recball on Sunday. The extended play was a last minute decision by the field owner since the night game was cancelled due to the difficulty of managing a night game. After playing out there all day I can't imagine playing this field in the dark due to the rough terrain. The weather held out until Saturday night when we were hit with a few short thunder storms. Due to some heavy rain in the morning hours a lot of people took off on Sunday. We still had about 50-60 players so we played a few attack/defend games on a few of the bases for fun. The weather cleared up by 10:00 and the woods were pretty dry by 11:30.
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OES Game Report
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The Contra team was out numbered but had the field advantage and two tanks. The US forces only had a few reliable tank hunters so we were hammered by the tanks the entire day. The first half of the game was focused on a back and forth battle for the "Satcom" base. The base was elevated on the top of a large hill with heavy cover and trenches. Since the base was centrally located on the field it was easy to surround and re-supply so both teams had their turns defending and attacking. By early afternoon US Forces gained a dominant hold on the Satcom base and pushed in to take the Contra ammo dump and Fire Base Echo. This was the first time Echo base has been captured by an opposing team! Contra regained control of Echo and the rest of the game pivoted around US Forcers trying to re-take Echo before the end of the day. Despite a very intense battle, Contra held the Echo base and won the game in overall points.

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I finally found a solution to my pod launcher shredding rockets thanks to the help from some guys on the OES Forum. I created a small cardboard sabot that protects the rocket fins. I also noticed that the newer versions of the Nerf Vortex rocket are being made with a much more durable fin.
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Here is the sabot with the new version of the Nerf rocket, old version fired with the sabot, and old version fired without the sabot.
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I spent several hours this weekend working on the SPPL launcher. The air system is working perfectly and I made a few cosmetic upgrades including a sling and barrel cap. I'm still working out the kinks on the firing mechanism and have yet to fire a single round. I'm committed to finding a solution before OES next weekend.
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I put the final touches on the Super 9 sniper and it is ready for use! As with any project there are still a few minor changes that I'd like to make but it looks pretty sweet. I will be field testing this in June at my local field since I won't be playing a sniper role at OES.
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I just got a big bonus for reenlisting in the National Guard! I treated myself to a great deal on a Tac-8 pistol package that will hopefully arrive before I leave for OES. I also picked up a used Pro-Carbine for super cheap, a Hammerhead barrel, and a digital camo Flurry vest. A fool and his money are quickly parted.
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Check out the new project pictures. I started a third launcher project on a whim but fire testing was a big flop. At least I can use the parts to make an air tool for cleaning dust off of my workbench.
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Finally!!! I've been dying to get back on the field! After three failed attempts to play at my local field where nobody showed up I finally got to play my second game of the year!
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Click image for link to game pics:

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The Sudden Impact Big Game this year drew in at least 100 players despite a continuous drizzling rain and discouraging weather reports. The day was broken into 4 separate games with points based on flag stations and the retrieval of randomly placed ammo boxes. My initial concern was that the field owner had spread us too thin with 3 teams and 15 minute reinsertions. With only 50-60 players for the first game we were spread pretty thin over approximately 90 acres. We were also plagued by marker and paint problems due to the humidity and rain. Fogging was a continuous problem for many players throughout the day though thankfully I wasn't one of them.
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I learned a big lesson that day...10-15 rounds at the chrono station isn't enough to verify a marker is working correctly....especially in the rain. Large bore, short barrels seemed to work best. Funny thing is that the rental markers worked great. Anyway, by the second game the teams were at near full strength and most people seemed to have recovered from any initial marker snafus. The field owner saw the error of his ways and changes the rules to hot reinsertion from your home base which really helped keep players in the game.
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Games 2 and 3 went reasonably well. There were enough inexperienced players on the field to make you feel like Rambo and rack up a good personal kill count, yet enough experienced players to make it a challenge. Even though most of my friends were on the Purple team I was placed with Red at the start of the game. I think Purple had the most experienced players or at least a group that played well together and they were the clear leaders for the first three games. One interesting aspects of the game was each team was given a different base for start of each game.
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The final battle was by far one of the coolest games I've ever played! I would have gladly driven cross country for a similar experience. The only objective was to place a team flag on a single flagpole in a central location. The team with their flag in pace at each 10 minute marker got the points and the game was close enough that this could decide the winning team. The flag was in a circle of sand bags, natural cover, and heavily wooded on several sides. Yellow was the first to plant their flag and the rest of the hour was spent taking turns making 5-10 man charges on the flag.
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