Frequent pass-offs and strategic combat were key during this past week’s War Zone battle, as Team One, consisting of VoidTraveller Seetan, Robin Varriale, Xell Placebo, Dassina Andel & Shawn Topaz confronted Team Two, made up of Pietro Moskvitch, Paytok Ghost, Malice Shepherd, Patrice Cournoyer and Psycho Baroque.
As the first week of combat following the recent disabling of Wastelands v1 weapons, many combatants came up against the added difficulty of having few weapons that would work. As a result, confrontations were mostly concentrated in close up skirmishes involving melee weapons throughout Hambone Slash.
Round One
Malice grabbed the flag immediately, but ran up against congestion as he attempted to leave the Potato Farm. Escaping south towards the Southern Garrison while teammates attempted to stall their opponents, the flag was passed to Paytrok about two minutes later, who fled to the northern garrison, trailed by VoidTraveller, Dassina, Shawn and Pietro, but was brought down during an altercation between himself, Robin and Psycho near the big hill in between. Robin took the opportunity to snatch up the flag and head back to the arena, attempting to shake off his pursuers by heading inside and exposing them to the various traps found there.
Unfortunately, he soon found himself incapacitated as Pietro shot him down and picked up the flag for himself – a short victory, as he too fell to spikes in the arena and Robin’s teammate Dassina Andel stole the flag abruptly and headed north with it. Chased by many, she was taken down soon after via melee and gunfire. VoidTraveller took up the flag for her, but was shot down by Paytrok’s nailgun shortly thereafter. Claiming his prize, Paytrok fled over the hill westward, then south, but eventually died from radiation poisoning. Robin managed to catch up and pick up the flag, taking it westward, but died as he avoided skirmishes between Dassina, Shawn and Pietro – Pietro grabbing the flag in the final seconds of the round. Six flag carriers were recorded and total time found Team 2 victorious for the round.
Round Two
The round began with the flag placed in the middle of the spike-ridden ‘The Spider’ map. Pietro grabbed the flag first and headed west, purused by Shawn, VoidTraveller and Malice, but eventually heading back east to the arena, lingering near the healing rocks. Here, VoidTraveller was able to steal the flag briefly, heading north towards the Northern Garrison, closely pursued by all. In the midst of the pursuit, a moment’s hesitation allowed Paytrok to snatch up the flag. As Dassina closed in on her pursuit, Paytrok pulled his kidney burster to fender her off, leaping for the northern garrison, hiding there for a short while until rousted from his hiding spot there by Dassina, then fleeing southward pursued by everyone.
Malice stole the flag during this pursuit and headed southwest, then back north along the west side of the cliffs near the pond pursued by Dassina, Xell and Payrok. Switching back down in to the quarry and under the pipeline, he headed back towards the healing rocks, passing the flag to Pietro there and fleeing north. Pietro, heading north also, circled back south and around to the healing rocks where he found teammate Paytrok and passed off the flag. Paytrok ran for cover at the pipeline, then turned back to the areana, pulling pursuers Dassina and Shawn inside a holding cell, but ultimately falling from combined combat and radiation damage. There, Dassina took up the flag and headed west, far from pursuit, and took refuge near the pipeline until time ran out. This, however, was not sufficient to bring Team One’s total possession time above that of their competitors, despite five carriers over the course of the round. As such, Team 2 won their second round, finalizing their win for the month.
Round Three
Round Three was thus classified an exhibition round, starting out with Pietro grabbing the flag, followed by Dassina and Shawn close behind, trailed by Paytrok. VoidTraveller caught up soon afterward, stealing the flag for himself, chased by Paytrok and Dassina. On his way to the Southern Garrison, pausing a moment, he lost and regained the flag from Paytrok, but fell shortly afterward from injuries incurred from both combat and radiation. Malice, in the mean time, slipped in and ran off with the flag as Void fell, with Shawn and Pietro chasing closely behind but unable to reclaim the flag before time ran out. Nevertheless, Team Two’s flag possession time still exceeded that of Team One’s, and the group pulled off a hat-trick of wins for the week.
(( These and more shots from the Warzone and Fight Night events available here . Warzone is held on the first Saturday of each month at 3PM PDT, at the Potato Farm, Hambone Slash, The Wastelands. – A.S.))