OP PEGASUS XV

IT’S BEEN A BUSY OLD SUMMER FOR THE AA CREW, BUT A FINE ONE, WITH VIRTUALLY EVERY MEMBER ATTENDING AT LEAST ONE BIG GAME OR EVENT! THIS MONTH DAN, OUR US DEPUTY ED AND ONE OF OUR RESIDENT TECH-GURUS, BRINGS HOME THE STORY OF A SPECIAL ANNUAL GAME LOCAL TO HIM, AS HE SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE OF THE ANNUAL OP PEGASUS, A MEMORABLE GAME FOR MANY REASONS!

There are many characteristics that define an airsoft field, from the field itself to the design of the control points and terrain features, to the facilities, staff and the quality of the events, but in some cases, there are events that are transcendental, able to stand on their own merits and entirely separate from the field they might be presently tied to. It is in this category that I feel Operation Pegasus stands among the latter.

Now in its 15th consecutive year, OP: Pegasus has navigated across several different fields in its home state of Washington. From its start at Dragon Warz Paintball field in Colville, to Nitehawk Airsoft and Paintball north of Reardan, to its current residency at “The Field” on the outskirts of Spokane.

OP: Pegasus was originally conceived as a multiday “MilSim-Lite” scenario event designed around a fictional African country embroiled in war. Throughout the years, Pegasus events featured several notable factions that were the primary conduit for its unique character. The Zamundan Defense Force (or ZDF) was a consistent and staple element, being comprised mostly of irregular forces dressed in OD green fatigues or civilian garb. Worldwide Security International (WSI) was originally fielded as the opposing force. This was a mercenary faction intent on pursuing their own militaristic agenda in the failing nation-state of Zamunda. WSI’s reign was short lived, however, and they would eventually evolve into the 1st Mugambi Scouts, who

“OP: PEGASUS WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A MULTI-DAY “MILSIM-LITE” SCENARIO EVENT DESIGNED AROUND A FICTIONAL AFRICAN COUNTRY EMBROILED IN WAR. THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, PEGASUS EVENTS FEATURED SEVERAL NOTABLE FACTIONS THAT WERE THE PRIMARY CONDUIT FOR ITS UNIQUE CHARACTER” were a more professional paramilitary force and one that established a long-standing brand identity with players. Even the CIA made a notable (f not rather infamous!) appearance as a third faction at one point.

Many might argue that those were the halcyon days of Pegasus, when the event was primarily hosted at Dragon Warz field. Dragon Warz was notable for its

Mugambi Scouts go, the transition to a new setting went smoothly, proving that Op: Pegasus was able to successfully navigate the winds of change.

Touchdown At Pegasus Xv

Up until Pegaus XV, I had usually sided with the Guardia Nacional, but this year I elected to roll with San Felice cartel for a change of pace.

unique environment, being located north of Colville, Washington with a large creek running through the center of the property. The proximity to water created a natural oasis for lush growth, dense groves of hawthorn bushes, and chest-high grass fields, about as perfect a simulacrum of a jungle environment as was possible to get in the Inland Northwest.

After ten years of adventure in Zamunda, the ZDF and Mugambi forces settled their scores and sailed into the sunset. OP: Pegasus shifted theme and gears to an entirely different continent, South America.

Now located in our fictional country of Escalante, the new setting was more reminiscent of Tom Clancy’s “Clear and Present Danger” than “Blood Diamond”. Government forces in the form of Guardia Nacional would square off against the San Felice Cartel, which were strictly in the business of illegal cash crops. While many of us who’ve been attending Pegasus events year after year were sad to see the rivalry between the ZDF and

Pegasus has always had a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two major factions, and this spirit of competitiveness also translates to a lot of jockeying behind the scenes to figure out who was playing on which side. Within minutes of arriving at the field, I was already being hit up for last minute repairs or various screws, springs and parts. I took a little time out to set up my tent while there was still daylight. By late Friday evening, I had torn down a Real Sword SVD to fix a trigger reset issue, and by the following morning, rebuilt an M249 SAW’s gearbox. Throughout, I was also busy delivering repaired and upgraded guns completed from months and weeks previous to their respective owners; tis’ the life of an Airsoft tech!

My first night was a little rough, with sleep broken by the incessant cawing of a demonic rooster breaking into song at 04:00!

At about 06:00, and with the rooster still doing its thing, I crawled out of my tent and set about

MINUTES OF ARRIVING AT THE FIELD, I WAS ALREADY BEING HIT UP FOR LAST MINUTE REPAIRS OR VARIOUS SCREWS, SPRINGS AND PARTS. I TOOK A LITTLE TIME OUT TO SET UP MY TENT WHILE THERE WAS STILL DAYLIGHT” to getting ready for the day. It was projected to be an unseasonably warm weekend for September, with the expectation that the temperature would break the all-time high record that day which previously stood at 95° F (35° C).

San Felice cartel’s ‘uniforms’ were primarily comprised of civilian clothing, so I ran with that and opted for a basic ensemble. My t-shirt consisted of some Under Armor HeatGear, and for the first time in my nearly 2 decades of playing airsoft… shorts! I also opted to run the NB-Tactical V3 balaclava. This is the newest version that has been re-cut and has even more ventilation than the older version. I primarily use it though to hold my mesh mouth guard insert, which is a little piece I modified to fit my face better than factory offerings. The night previous I had cut up a shemagh into several long strips and left them to soak in ice water overnight. These I tied around my neck and wrists, areas where you have large veins moving blood through the body. As water is 23.5 times more effective at transferring heat than air, this basically works off the principal of evaporative cooling; effective in dry heat, but for those cursed with high humidity, it is less so. In our case, our brand of heat is almost always the former, so this massively helped dull the edge and made the day bearable.

Hamburger Hill

After the safety briefing, a brief orientation, organizing into squads and being provided our mission sets, we set out to seize the day.

I had volunteered to run as our squad’s sole LMG gunner, a decision I later contemplated with some minor regret as it felt like the heat amplified every bit of extra weight I was carrying. Nevertheless, I made work with my customized PKM in tow.

Our first mission was a simple cash-grab for prime real estate, take Hamburger Hill and set up a CCP nearby from which we could conduct attacks into the tiny town of Farinaville below. Hamburger Hill sits dead center of the field and is notoriously difficult to assault if you have an occupying force embedded on top. As Obi-Wan might have said: “It’s over, Anakin. I have the high ground.”

We set out from our initial starting point at the Airfield and doubletimed it to Hamburger hill, arriving on site without resistance. The Guardia Nacional forces themselves had elected to seize Farinaville below and set up a hasty defensive line with a few

GUARDIA NACIONAL FORCES THEMSELVES HAD ELECTED TO SEIZE FARINAVILLE BELOW AND SET UP A HASTY DEFENSIVE LINE WITH A FEW ELEMENTS ATTEMPTING TO PROBE SOME EASTERN ANGLES. FROM THE ELEVATED POSITION OF THE BUNKERS ON TOP OF HAMBURGER HILL, WE WERE ABLE TO USE OUR SNIPERS AND LMG’S TO SUPPRESS TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY” elements attempting to probe some eastern angles. From the elevated position of the bunkers on top of Hamburger Hill, we were able to use our snipers and LMG’s to suppress targets of opportunity and individuals attempting to attack the hill. There seemed to be no coordinated attack forthcoming from the direction of the town, however.

After a few minutes of relative calm, we were given a general order to attack Farinaville and seize it. I moved off the top and hugged the trees between the town and us. There was some return fire, but overall the response was weaker than expected, particularly on the right flank. Sensing this weakness, I used the moment to push out in a wide northern arc around the town.

My first set put me in view of the main avenue through town, and from this vantage point, this appeared to be clear of enemy; presumably they were hiding within the structures and would therefore be more difficult to remove. I yelled out to my squad mates to push up. After the rest of the squad arrived on scene, I picked up and angled out again so I could observe the rear of the structures and approaches from there. This turned into a rather fortuitous decision, with many bodies stacked behind the buildings and seemingly unaware that I had moved into firing range. An image of Matthew McConaughey taking a wild-eyed drag on a cigarette flashed in my mind as I raked the entire back of the town with my PKM. The bulk of their defense forces now shattered, we still had to properly clear the structures and secure the town. Most of the buildings actually proved to be empty, save for the ‘killhouse’, which lived up to its name. Art Bigelow of Nomad Airsoft did handy work in there, making several of our squad members’ pay for every inch of it.

After we secured the town, we received word that Guardia forces were attempting to push up Heartbreak ridge, likely with the aim of attempting to take Sage Town. If they were successful, this would put a sizable element in our rear and within shot of our FOB at the Airfield, which was relatively unguarded due to all of our forces being forward deployed. As our current position was secure and Guardia forces had withdrawn to Party Rock or the neighboring birch forest, we split up the force and sent a large group of us to attack Heartbreak Ridge.

My squad had gotten into a bit of disarray by then, with some remaining in Farinaville, and some going on the attack. There was a small force of Guardia sitting atop Party Rock, which is the highest point on the field. This is a literal rock outcropping that has a good vantage point over a lot of the field with a lot of clear firing lanes. From there, they had pretty good range to at least harass us and force our team to keep its distance. Much like Hamburger Hill, this is an extremely difficult position to assault, if not possibly one of the hardest of all on the field. Thus, for most of the day, we gave it a wide berth. They could keep their vantage point, as long as they didn’t do anything else with it.

As I approached Heartbreak, I could hear the backand-forth of an active firefight between our forces. There was decent tree cover on the approach, so I was able to sneak up unopposed and observe that a force of Guardia was indeed assaulting the base of Heartbreak. An LMG gunner and a couple of riflemen from another squad had joined me by that point, and together as an ad hoc team we set about hosing the base of the ridge.

“HAVING NOW ASSUMED APPROXIMATELY THREE-FOURTHS CONTROL OF THE FIELD, OUR COMMAND NET RELAYED THAT THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WAS TO HIT THE GUARDIA FORWARD OPERATING BASE ON TOP OF THE PLATEAU. THIS WAS THEIR LAST REMAINING STRONGHOLD. IF WE TOOK THAT, WE WOULD HAVE EFFECTIVELY ROLLED UP THE ENTIRE FIELD BEFORE NOON.”

With their main assaulting force demolished, the remaining Guardia forces withdrew into the neighboring birch wood forest. Having now assumed approximately three-fourths control of the field, our command net relayed that the primary objective was to hit the Guardia Forward Operating Base on top of the plateau. This was their last remaining stronghold. If we took that, we would have effectively rolled up the entire field before noon.

The Plateau

I didn’t want to push through the birch forest. It was a dense thicket of brush and tightly packed trees and ill-suited for the minimum engagement distance my LMG was restricted to. I could have tried clearing through with my sidearm, but I knew there were likely Guardia forces dug in like ticks in there and it would be rough going. I opted to rejoin my squad back at Farinaville and try for a hard right flank push on the FOB, where the forest wasn’t as thick. Unfortunately I did not find my squad mates when I arrived at Farinaville. I was the only one running with a radio, and mainly used that to listen for orders from our force commander, so we didn’t have internal squad communications available, which really meant we didn’t have a means of rallying up when we were dispersed. Nevertheless, we formed up a new group and set out to work through the northern forest and up to the plateau.

maybe a squad-sized element embedded in the forest. I achieved a nice pistol kill and surprised a couple of Guardia who were distracted by the main group.

After the forest had been cleared, we mounted the plateau, scrambling up rocks and into the hummocks. Guardia, of course, had spotted us from the vantage of their FOB. The plateau is largely a wide-open space, with nearly 100m to traverse until you reach the FOB. The best way to attack it is to hoof it hard over the top and dive into the gully on the backside of the plateau. There, you have nice concealment all the way up to the backside of the FOB. If you can coordinate one group to attack from the rear, and another from the front, it’s technically possible to take it. But it requires the aforementioned coordination and the constant application of pressure to make it happen.

We made it up to about halfway on the plateau, trading some long-range fire to keep heads down, before finding ourselves shot from behind. Apparently, a lone Guardia had remained behind in the forest we had just “cleared” and snuck up behind us while we were making our push. Amusingly, he had also left his squad mates to perish at our hands from our sweep through the forest, but I suppose loyalty to one’s mates can be fleeting in our fictional wars. It was about this point in time where something gave out in my PKM too. We were too far ahead of the main group to get a medic revive, so we had to wait the required 5 minutes to “bleed out”. After consulting the clock, we also realized we were also coming up against lunchtime and the game was called for break shortly thereafter.

We pushed through on a rough line, with a rifleman and I forming the base of an L-shaped sweep, essentially working a line with a flanking group of two to hit from the side. Resistance was fairly light, with

Back at camp, we dumped gear, rehydrated and ate leisurely meal. By now, the heat was nearing its peak and the effects were starting to be felt. My shemagh wraps were nearly dry from having the water baked out of them. I threw these back into my rapidly

SPACE, WITH

100M TO TRAVERSE UNTIL

REACH THE FOB. THE BEST WAY TO ATTACK IT IS TO HOOF IT HARD OVER THE TOP AND DIVE INTO THE GULLY ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE PLATEAU. THERE, YOU HAVE NICE CONCEALMENT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE BACKSIDE OF THE FOB” melting ice cooler to soak.

During the assault on the plateau, something had given out on my PKM and it had elicited the characteristic death squeal of something gone awry. My motivation and morbid curiosity wrestled with one another over cracking it open and seeing if I could do a quick field repair. Motivation looked at the 100° F (37° C) on the thermometer and firmly said “No thanks!” So instead I switched out to my trusty Arcturus PP-19-01 Vityaz, which was showcased in Airsoft Action ISSUE 156. I also switched out to my SMG vest, which consists of a Tactical Tailor MAV with a Fight Light X-Harness and a mix of HSGI TACO’s, Esstac KYWI’s and banger pouches. After manhandling the heavy PKM most of the day, the Vityaz felt impossibly light in the hands.

Return To Heartbreak

As we had more or less pushed Guardia forces into the back of the field, the field owner, Rob Kauder, elected to ‘reset’ the map and have us flip starting positions. We would now stage from the former FOB of Guardia, while Guardia forces would stage from the Airfield; this was done in the spirit of preventing the game from bogging down into a slugging match over a small piece of ground.

Sage Town, but first we needed to secure Farinaville and Heartbreak Ridge to prevent any flanking actions. We rolled into Farinaville with no resistance, but Guardia had already captured Hamburger Hill. Now we were in the position they faced earlier, with suppressive fire being lobbed at us from the hilltop. We attempted to probe around the base of Hamburger Hill, using the thicker trees as cover, but there were just too many guns pointed our way and we faced a quite literal uphill battle for control.

Since most of our force was on the Farinaville approach, a few of us opted to shift right and try to feel out the status of Heartbreak Ridge. I bumped into a friendly squad who fortuitously had a sniper in tow to help us with the long shots and our intrepid medic, Russell Fisher, who was putting in the work keeping us alive.

A good field owner knows when to switch things up to keep the pace moving and more importantly, when to put the train back on the tracks when it falls off the rails. We hadn’t fallen off the rails, but we also didn’t need the event to descend into a torturous stalemate either. Over the years, this fluid approach to managing the field has worked out pretty well and Rob has proven himself to be a capable event manager.

With the sun beating at our backs, we marched off from the FOB. Our general plan was to try and capture

We ended up largely fighting along the property border as Guardia forces were firmly embedded atop Heartbreak Ridge. But along the border, we had enough concealment and distance to allow us to at least maneuver forward. There were a few Guardia dug into the trees ahead of us, but as mid-day sun was at our backs, they struggled with the glare and were swiftly tagged out. After some aggressive pushes, I glumly realized I had ended up being the sole guy way out there at the very tip of our proverbial spearhead; cue Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself!” Well… there was no turning back now.

The vegetation was getting quite thick as I progressed further forward. There was a large (now mostly dry) pond just past Heartbreak Ridge, but this area was dense with grass, and brush… especially of the pokey variety! I may have elicited a curse or two as I shredded my legs on some unexpected

“I SWITCHED OUT TO MY TRUSTY ARCTURUS PP-19-01 VITYAZ, WHICH WAS SHOWCASED IN AIRSOFT ACTION ISSUE 156. I ALSO SWITCHED OUT TO MY SMG VEST, WHICH CONSISTS OF A TACTICAL TAILOR MAV WITH A FIGHT LIGHT X-HARNESS AND A MIX OF HSGI TACO’S, ESSTAC KYWI’S AND BANGER POUCHES” thorns. Unappetizing as my location was, however, I had a good view on the side and top of Heartbreak Ridge and was able to pick off targets from relative concealment. From here, the edge of Sage Town was within view too, and I could practically smell an “in”… if only I could get more bodies to move up with me!

As I painfully scabbed my way through the thorns and bush (shorts, remember?), I managed to clear off the top of the ridge and was down to one last visible target. It was a hard slog of back and forth dueling as I attempted to get an angle on him. He was in a good spot, well concealed, with a lot of hard cover making a clear shot difficult. Using the sun to my advantage, I finally managed to snake a lucky .30g through the thicket and land a solid shot. My moment had arrived! I tore out of the brush and up the ridge. Meanwhile, Forest Hagel with his RPK-16 and a couple of squad mates, were bussing their way up the northern side. We were a literal hair away from having control of Heartbreak Ridge, when two squads of Guardia unexpectedly materialized and sent us into the soil. Once again, Heartbreak Ridge lived up to its name…

Endex

We returned to camp, a little beat and all of us ready to pillage our respective ice chests for some cold beverages.

I was low on ammo and water at that point, and the hard push to the top coupled with the brutal heat had mostly done me in. Taking the requisite five minutes to bleed out, I grabbed my gear and settled into some shade down by Sage Town and the admin tent. By that point in the day, people were beginning to drop like flies and tempers were starting to flare a bit from the heat. It was administratively decided to stop while we were ahead and call the game a little early to avoid further issues from spiraling into needless drama.

It was a good call, in my opinion.

Despite some of the frustrations elicited while on the field, once we were back in the relative comfort of camp civilization, the mood was good and everyone was having a laugh with their tales and exploits. The evening consisted of the annual raffle of event prizes, handing out patches to us old timers who’ve been around since the beginning days of Pegasus, and setting up for the “Suq” which is basically a swap meet to buy, sell and trade all things airsoft. As ever, it was amusing to see which guns had traded hands (again), many now tracing an eversordid path through innumerable hands in the community. As the night settled in on another OP: Pegasus, some stayed up to party late, while others settled in with friends and swapped stories. I made it to 11 before I crawled into my tent and soon passed out. I even slept through the demonic incantations of our rooster this time!

For myself, Op: Pegasus is more than the sum of its battles and the nature of the field. Nor is it defined by the usual foibles and frustrations that may occur at any event. Those are transient things, after all. Rather, it stands apart from similar events as an annual reunion of friends, both old and new, and the sense of shared passion we have for airsoft. The fields may change and even the faces we started with come and go over the years, but the memories we made will always be eternal. Pictures were used with permission and graciously provided by photographer Brian Neale. You can check out more of Pegasus MilSim at https:// pegasusairsoftgrou.wixsite.com/pegasusairsoft AA

“(OP: PEGASUS) STANDS APART FROM SIMILAR EVENTS AS AN ANNUAL REUNION OF FRIENDS, BOTH OLD AND NEW, AND THE SENSE OF SHARED PASSION WE HAVE FOR AIRSOFT. THE FIELDS MAY CHANGE AND EVEN THE FACES WE STARTED WITH COME AND GO OVER THE YEARS, BUT THE MEMORIES WE MADE WILL ALWAYS BE ETERNAL”