Volunteer Commando Battalion - British Co-Op Squad

[Nikeleye]

As we close in on 2012, VOLCBAT is going from strength to strength in the British milsim hemisphere. In recent months we've finished a major and incredibly well crafted campaign, taken part in some of the best standalone operations in VCB history, as we look forwards to taking part in a Falklands-style scenario and continuing the new training regimen for 3 Platoon.


Operation Rusty Trombone

As the associated image suggests, 3Pl have completed their multi-stage operation in the Qom Province of Ardistan, titled Operation Rusty Trombone. Initially an invasion and offensive role series of attacks, the mission morphed into an anti-CBRN campaign fighting off the local army and militia forces to secure nuclear power centres and possible WMD sources.

Culminating in a rather messy suitcase bomb taking out half of Qom Province, 3 Platoon returned home somewhat more glowing than in months previous, another successful campaign under their belt.


Current Ops
Since concluding Op Rusty Trombone and looking into the beginning of the New Year, VOLCBAT has been utilising the excellent in-house mission making skills of the likes of Lorcan and Gilson, performing everything from full platoon-level standing attacks on insurgent held villages, recapturing ordnance and assets seized by the enemy, securing MSRs, to a Rorke's Drift style objective defense mission.

Operation Marquis
Looking to the first quarter of 2012, 3 Platoons commander, Friznit, is adapting a set of missions originally designed for a multi-group campaign to fit with VCBs current strength of numbers. Consisting of a number of sequential and dynamic missions, Operation Marquis sees British forces staging an amphibious invasion of an Atlantic island recently subject to a hostile occupation by a similar strength force. Loosely based on the 1982 Falklands war, the British led by 1st Battalion VCB are tasked with destroying the enemies strongholds and ability to wage war on the island, and successfully liberate the island either through military victory or forcing an enemy surrender.

Operation Marquis will be an exciting and challenging set of missions for VCB to partake in, testing every members personal drills and setting new demands on the NCOs and Officers commanding A Company, not only co-ordinating a light role infantry mission but adding in naval gunfire support, close air support from RAF/FAA resources, sorting CASEVACs, resource resupply, etc. We'd love to have more capable and friendly bods for this so if you're interested take a look at the Recruitment section below.

Training
Coming up in January and continuing afterwards, VCB are continuing the new modular training scheme for all members. Everyone is able to individually pass 20 to 30 minute training modules on a number of subjects such as Advanced Urban Combat, Helicopter Drills, Section/Platoon Level Weapons, and more. We aim to host at least 3 of these modules in January over the course of an evening, with the goal of getting more bods up to Class 2 Rifleman standard. Moving up to Class 2 in VCB means you've got a hard figure to show for your time and effort committed, and those that attend more training will have more opportunities during mission nights for the more advanced section roles.

Recruitment
VOLCBAT is, as ever, recruiting like-minded and enthusiastic ArmA 2 players new and old to our ranks. For more information, check out our Recruit's Information Pack and if we seem to be what you're after in a British co-op milsim experience, head over to our Recruitment Forum and put an application in!

[friznit2]

VCB February 2012 Update

It's been a while since our last update, mainly due to some busy deployments on operations around the world of ArmA2. VOLCBAT goes from strength to strength, with a core of long serving members creating a foundation on which we continue to build a highly competent milsim group. We pride ourselves on our relaxed approach to what is ultimately still a computer game, whilst maintaining the highest standard of tactics, techniques and procedures expected of a British Light Infantry platoon, ably assisted by our serving and ex-British military members.

Ops & Deployments

A Coy 1VCB recently deployed to Podagorsk in response to an escalating crisis situation sparked by a breakaway Russian faction. As Op Marquis unfolded, Morton Platoon was called upon to conduct many and varied ops including pathfinding behind enemy lines, littoral (amphibious) landings and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconaissance (ISR) missions. In the following video you will see 3 (Morton) Platoon being inserted by chinook to secure a Forward Operating Base in preparation for further taskings in 1VCB Area of Operations.



In the latter half of Op Marquis, 1VCB was joined by 1Flt 16AA, who brought much needed close air support, transport helicopters and a Tactical Air Control Party for some of the more challenging missions. This next vid is a joint raid on an enemy held airbase in order to secure air superiority over the AO.



VOLCBAT is currently on standby to deploy as the Spearhead Battalion on Op Canterbury Hotel in Lingor Province.

Training

Having recently put the finishing touches to a brand new Infantry Training Centre at Copehill Down Village on Salisbury Plain (Cinder City), VCB has taken every opportunity to make use of this excellent facility to refresh and develop our skills and drills.



We have reworked the monthly Platoon Training Schedule and implemented a comprehensive training plan that see recruits progress from Phase 1 Rifleman to Phase 3 Specialist. With full documentation provided on our forum and regular training sessions, we have seen a real improvement in the capability of the Platoon on operations.

Procurement

We are always on the look out for good quality kit and equipment to enhance our experience and have recently received a significant uplift in our night fighting capability in the form of the CWS, Maxikite night sights and the VIPER2+ Thermal Imaging sight for UKF Weapons thanks to Da12thMonkey.



We have also employed the DDAM Merlin to fill a capability gap between heavy lift and light role Support Helicopter & ISTAR platform to support operations in complex environments.

Recruitment & New Members

And finally, we have continued to streamline the recruitment process to both reduce the administrative burden on NCOs and remove the perceived barriers to entry into VCB. This is due to be rolled out in the very near future and will hopefully make the recruitment process quicker and easier whilst still giving new members all the knowledge they need to operate as a useful member of our team.

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As always, if you want to know more or are interested in joining VOLCBAT, have a look at our Info Pack or head over to our Website and Forum for more details.

Friznit
Lt
OC 3 (Morton) Pl

[Nikeleye]

April 2012 Update

Apart from a short break for jungle refresher training in late February, 3 (Morton) Platoon have been on continuous ops for almost 3 months. As the spearhead company for 1VCB, A Coy was recently stood up to deploy to Lingor Province as part of a larger United Nations Security Force in response to a deteriorating political situation in the former Portuguese colony.

Operation CANTERBURY HOTEL

Following the success of Operation Marquis, A Coy 1VCB was once again called upon for a rapid deployment to Lingor Province, under the directive Operation Canterbury Hotel. Unlike the previous campaign, which was heavily supported by air and naval assets of a local carrier task force, Morton Platoon now find themselves engaging a tough enemy with little in the way of support. Every move forward is met by stiff resistance and the unit is constantly in danger of being cut off with their supply lines overrun by local militia forces.

After pushing a spearhead into the flanks of the native militia, 3Pl then conducted probing attacks on the enemies communications lines, such as a former army listening post occupied by the guerrilas, and one of their ammo caches. Operation Canterbury Hotel continues.

Operation HELLION

Alongside their commitments in Lingor, elements from VCB are also co-deployed in the Chernarus region continuing conflict resolution following previous large-scale operations. Under the moniker of Operation Hellion, 1VCB are taking on pockets of Chedaki resistance. However, while inserting to the TAOR under cover of darkness, their Chinook helicopter was attacked by a SAM battery and they were forced to ditch the helo and make a rapid egress from enemy territory to the safety of the nearest 1VCB forward base. 1VCB expect further missions in the area to take out that anti-air site amongst other strategic objectives to assist in ridding the area of the insurgents.

Upcoming Mission - Operation RAVENOUS

While 1VCB are already fighting on two fronts, rumours abound of the Afghan National Army suffering heavy attrition and taking large casualties in a series of ambushes and raids by the Taliban in the Sangin Province of Afghanistan. Morton Pl Intel suggests the ANA will need relieving, probably by UN-backed British Army forces in the near future. 1VCB stands ready to deploy into a third theatre in as many months.

Training

The Infantry Training Centre at Copehill Down Village (a.k.a Cinder City) has seen continuous development in recent weeks and has been used extensively for Phase 1 Basic Training, pre-op shake outs, advanced lessons in Fire Missions and CAS 9 Liners as well as a general testing and practice area for weapon systems both new and old.

Pl HQ is currently planning a TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops), led by our resident (retired) British Army Captain and a (serving) Royal Marines Commando, to develop the command and control skills of our junior leadership team. We take milsim seriously!

...so seriously that we set our O Groups to music.

Procurement

Thanks to Cleggy's awesome work, we are now trialling the British Ridgeback MPV with a view to training and deployment on Op Ravenous in Sangin.

We've also moved our add-on pack to version 1.337 of Lingor Island with a plethora of tweaks, fixes and new features to add even more to our favourite jungle map.

Recruitment & New Members

Our streamlined recruitment is now fully implemented and joining is now a simpler and less bureaucratic process that will get you from application to shooting pixels with the platoon quickly and smoothly. We still expect the same attitude and willingness to play our game as before. If you want to know more or are interested in joining VOLCBAT, have a look at our Info Pack or head over to our Website and Forum for more details.

[friznit2]

May 2012 Update

Ops & Deployments

In late February A Coy 1VCB was called upon for a rapid deployment to Lingor on Op Canterbury Hotel in response to political tensions in the area. Following a priority FLASH signal, 3 (Morton) Platoon was tasked with securing a SCUD launch site deep in the jungle to prevent an anticipated attempt by enemy forces at launching a chemical warhead at UNSF(L) HQ. What started as a successful strike at the heart of the enemy operation quickly unravelled as the Platoon found themselves surrounded and cut off from friendly support. With the subsequent destruction of the Task Force HQ, the platoon was forced to conduct a fighting withdrawal through enemy territory to an extraction point on the coast. Not one to give in lightly however, 3 Pl conducted a surprise counter-attack on enemy depth positions, crippling their command and control centre and dealing a decisive blow to their logistics capability. Unfortunately due to a rapidly detiorating situation and the withdrawal of the UN mandate for operations in the area, 1VCB were extracted from theatre leaving the conflict largely unresolved. It is unknown at this time whether UK forces will redeploy to the area in future.

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Meanwhile, elements of D Coy 1VCB have been conducting night time raids in the woods and forests of Chernarus on Op Hellion with varying degrees of success. Starting with some text book platoon attacks, VCB faced a variety of set piece actions from defensive ops (which went very well) to ambushes (not so good) and Advanced Urban Combat (not too shabby at all).

Not content with limiting our milsim credentials to the in game mission alone, we are currently looking forward to trialling a novel approach to mission making, loosely termed the 'campaign on demand'. VCB HQ will conduct a full planning cycle between ops based on available Intel and the missions will then be built to suit. We will us the British Army Military Decision Making Process or Combat Estimate, colloquially known as the 7 Questions, facilitated by our Pl Comd who is a trained staff officer. This will give the Pl Comd and HQ team more flexibility in deciding how to approach each mission, rather than the restrictive traditional method of following the mission maker's 'rail road'.

Training

Pl HQ recently ran a TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops) for all NCOs and Senior Riflemen to develop the command and control skills of our junior leadership team. Covering Ground Estimates, the '7 Questions' combat estimate and Platoon Orders, this was a thoroughly informative session and well-received by all.

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Monthly platoon training will take place in mid May and a further specialist training session for the Seniors will cover planning considerations for the Platoon on defensive ops.

Procurement

VCB has reviewed and refreshed our addons pack, adding two new maps - Isla Duala and Celle 2. We have also formally introduced Cleggy's Ridgeback PPV, which we look forward to using on the next desert op!

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Recruitment & New Members

Recruits continue to join us every week, and our new, simplified recruiting process has proved a success. As always, if you want to know more or are interested in joining VOLCBAT, have a look at our Info Pack or head over to our Website and Forum for more details.

[Nikeleye]

June 2012 Update
Over the past month the Volunteer Commandos have been as busy as ever. With one of the most ambitious campaigns to date going on, regular training and everything in between the Volunteer Commando Battalion are continuing to exploit every opportunity in Armed Assault 2 to maintain our reputation as one of the best milsim units out there.

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Deployment
After concluding their previous tour on the island of Lingor last month, A Company, 1st Battalion was preparing for some much needed home leave when the news came down to stand ready for immediate deployment to eastern Germany in response to sudden and unprovoked Russian hostilities. 1st Bn VCB now forms part of the NATO Task Force sent to contain the enemy, along with elements of the USMC (24th Marine Expeditionary Unit) and the Bundeswehr (Mechanised Infantry Bn 371) - operating under Operation BURGLAR ALARM. The first part of the campaign consisted of holding back the advanced Russian heavy armour and mech forces around the towns of WALLE and OFFEN. In tandem with joint RAF and USAF fixed-wing close air support A Coy valiantly held the line long enough for a supply route to be established and more reinforcements to arrive. This has been followed by raids on enemy supply depots and logistics targets, and as of last week 1st Bn have been tasked with pushing the enemy back from the town of BERGEN in an effort to regain momentum and start re-establishing pre-war borders. Thus far an initial attack by 3 Platoon was thwarted by the enemy turning its powerful mechanised AAA assets towards the infantry, inflicting very heavy casualties on the British troops.

A local press piece about the events leading to Operation BURGLAR ALARM

Re-assignment to 3 Commando Brigade
Shortly before deploying to the Celle region, 1st Bn VCB went through a largely administrative change that now brings it directly under the command structure of 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines. Now part of the unified Naval Service of the UK's Armed Forces, 1st Bn VCB are designated as a true amphibious warfare unit and this will be reflected in future operations and training. Like the other infantry elements of the RM, 1VCB will maintain it's light role proficiency, as well as keeping the air mobile and armoured infantry sub-roles. Rising political and military tensions following the recent economic instability in the Aegean region may decide the nature of the training environment in the near future.

A member of 3 Platoon, A Company on patrol

3 Platoon Training Regimen
As ever VCB is keen to keep our members at the top of their game and able to demonstrate very high "skills and drills" for all our missions. The training session held this month covered Advanced Urban Combat, Convoy Drills and Ambush Training. With a significant amount of 3 Platoon in attendance, bods were split into their designated sections as the course matter was explained, demonstrated and then they were tasked with going over this themselves led by their Section NCOs. The live fire element of the convoy training was a particular highlight, as was the Platoon HQ taking on the enemies role for a simulated ambush.

A convoy of MWMIKs and TUMs during a 3 Platoon training exercise

Multi-Session Operations
VCB are incredibly lucky to have several of the development team of the very popular 'MSO' mission for ArmA 2 within the ranks. We've just seen the value of this with MSO being tested with a Persistent Database system (probably familiar to most as a similar system is used by the "DayZ" mod), which is taking ArmA 2 gameplay to a whole new level with tremendous server performance increases as the bulk of the load is taken on by the clients - who now will have their own profile hosted on a website logging any of their in-game statistics or accomplishments as required. We're looking forward to continued testing in-house and seeing just what can be achieved with this new found technology.

Members of 1 Section, 3 Platoon rehearsing their Advanced Urban Combat drills

Recruitment
VOLCBAT are, as always, looking for like-minded members of the ArmA community new and old to join our ranks. If you'd like to know more about VOLCBAT please head on over to our recruitment forum (click me) to find out more.

[friznit2]

@Volcbat

Aug 2012 Update

Ops & Deployments

Following the recent posting to 3 Cdo Bde, A Coy 1VCB deployed to central Africa with 15th MEU in an attempt to stabilise a developing conflict between the Molatian and Afrenian forces in the region. Op Blazing Mongoose was a departure from traditional campaigns with a fully dynamic enemy that put the Platoon HQ team under pressure to conduct a full planning cycle prior to each mission. The events of each op had a direct impact on our ability to plan and execute subsequent missions, with some interesting and varied results - not always good!

During this period, the Battalion received ongoing news updates on the situation in Lingor following the UN mandated but ultimately abortive attempt to force a regime change back in June (Op Canterbury Hotel). Therefore it came as little surprise that after a short training rotation, 1VCB has been recalled to the jungle under the guise of a fresh UN mandate. The situation this time is very different however, and it will take all the cunning and experience of the Volunteer Commandos to prosecute what promises to be some very challenging missions.

Op Burning Mongoose - Kinsella Times

Multi Session Operations

Acting as part of 1VCB Experimental Group, Morton Platoon have been on 'continuous' deployment using Persistent Database technology. As the latest development in the MSO mission arsenal, PDB allows the platoon to maintain persistent missions over the course of multiple gaming nights regardless of server updates, mission restarts or even running other operations. Testing on active operations will commence in the coming months and it promises to revolutionise our approach to campaign building.

Training

With a greater focus on campaign cycles, Platoon training now takes place regularly every month with a clear aim to practise TTP's in preparation for upcoming ops. Recent training days have covered use of Offensive Support, heli handling drills, 'littoral' ops using RHIBs and fighting in woods and forests (FIWAF). Meanwhile, advanced training for the Senior Riflemen and NCOs continues to enhance the junior leadership and technical capabilities of the platoon in line with British Military doctrine.

Recruitment & New Members

We are always keen to get feedback from our recruits and following a recent discussion we have implemented a mentoring programme where all new recruits are helped and guided by a Senior Riflemen for their first few ops. This has been a welcome addition for those who may find joining an established milsim squad quite a daunting prospect. As always, we are open to all and if you want to know more about joining VOLCBAT, have a look at our Info Pack or head over to our Website and Forum for more details.

[Nikeleye]

Autumn 2012 Update
In the three months since the last update, The Volunteer Commandos have continued their legacy as one of the forerunners of British Milsim in the Armed Assault community. Campaigns have including overturning a military coup in the mid-Atlantic, battling an insurgency in Afghanistan, dealing with rogue military elements in Takistan and even participating in a joint operation with another military simulation group a continent away.

Operation RAVENOUS
Commencing at the end of August, 1st Battalion 'The Volunteer Commandos' deployed to Sangin Province, Afghanistan to join ISAF's latest effort to drive the Taliban from the area and re-establish goodwill with the local community - codenamed Operation RAVENOUS. Over a long and arduous month deployed right on the FLET (front line, enemy troops), A Company 1VCB were tasked with hunting down the Taliban, protecting supply routes and assisting the local forces in counter-insurgency taskings. Seemingly annoyed at the success ACoy was achieving, the Taliban called in reinforcements from all the neighbouring provinces and amassed a large counter-attack aimed at taking VCB out of the fight. Thanks to superior ISTAR assets, ACoy saw the attack coming and planned an intricate defensive mission posting small groups of soldiers at forward bases and falling back into defilade in sequence, using pre-briefed fire from 105mm light artillery and precision munitions provided by ISAF aircraft to destroy the Taliban force in detail. 1st Battalion were relieved by The Rifles after the operation and can record Operation RAVENOUS as a full success.

Operation EDINBURGH
Commencing in between deployments 1VCB were attached to a multi-national force also comprising of Zulu Alpha, an elite military organisation from South Africa, to tackle a large paramilitary narcotics group operating on Lingor Island in the mid-Atlantic, under an operation named EDINBURGH. Using their amphibious assault speciality, the joint force put in a large raid on the main towns held by the mercenaries and seized a massive haul of contraband, as well as eliminating the tasked HVT known to be the head of the group. Showing their ability to work with a similar highly-trained foreign military, 1VCB can add Operation EDINBURGH to their honours.

Operation TUPHEAD
Shortly after returning to their home barracks following Operation RAVENOUS, 1st Battalion were put on alert due to an emerging situation in the Middle East. Recent unrest in the Islamic world had led to a large part of the Takistan Regular Army splintering off and commencing hostile actions against friendly ISAF forces. This situation essentially granted the Takiban insurgency led by Hussein Bin Jezreddi free reign in the area. 1VCB was deployed within the week to try and combat the situation. Initially meeting little resistance as GREENFOR and OPFOR clashed with each other, VCB pushed further into enemy territory to gain dominance over the ground, even going so far as to establish a patrol base right in an area valued for its supply routes and local mines by both enemy factions. 1VCB remains in the area conducting probing attacks despite the recent intelligence received about hostilities spiking in the Dingor region.

3 'Morton' Platoon Training
In between and during all of its campaigns, VOLCBAT regularly conducts section- and platoon-level training. Recently we've gone in depth into Advanced Urban Combat, the refined art of operating in urban and close-quarters combat situations. Additional topics such as Support Weapons, Helicopter Landing Drills and Vehicle-borne Skills are covered in 30 to 40 minute 'bolt-on' packages run alongside combat operations.

VOLCBAT Recruitment
VOLCBAT are, as always, looking for like-minded members of the ArmA community new and old to join our ranks. If you'd like to know more about VOLCBAT please head on over to our recruitment forum (click me) to find out more.

And now, for something completely different...

[Nikeleye]

Happy New Year! 2012 was a pretty fantastic time for VOLCBAT with some truly epic campaigns, an ever growing and stable member base and the finding of considerable mod and mission making talent within the ranks. It seems to have been a great year for the community at large as well with modifications and missions being released at an unprecedented level of quality. VCB is looking to build upon this success as we go into 2013, and here's a look at what we've been up to since the last update and what lies ahead for us.

Operations
Since the last update in October, VCB has completed three full scale campaigns and several mini deployments around the armaverse. Starting off with Operation LEGIT, created by one of our most imaginative mission makers, Gilson, 1st Battalion 'The Volunteer Commandos' deployed with little notice to the Malabango archipelago amid a military coup on the island nation of Dingor. 3 Platoon was mainly utilised in a 6-stage campaign effort to raid enemy resources, support assets and C3I, as well as staging a hostage rescue effort and a large convoy ambush. 3Pl's efforts were deemed a complete success when the leader of the enemy council was reported as fleeing to the South East Asia region, his forces completely collapsing in his wake. Almost immediately following that, 1st Bn was redeployed to the seemingly endless conflict in the Chernarus region to assist government forces in destroying elements of a well organised, well equipped guerrilla insurgency. Deploying in the newly issued RIDGBACK Protected Patrol Vehicles along with Jackal MWMIK fire support platforms, ACoy moved from the centre of the AO southwards clearing towns fortified by the enemy in a very 'bread and butter' campaign that saw very heavy, regular contact dealt with. Attempting to enjoy some R&R after mopping up the last of the known enemy, 1VCB was once again stood to as reports came in of neighbouring Chellorussia inserting peacekeeping troops to the country only to meet a rejuvenated guerrilla force, this time equipped from an unknown source and willing to use truly asymmetric tactics. Utilising their Commando skillbase, 3Pl raided an outlying island to use as a forming up point to secure a beach head back onto the mainland. Having given themselves a way in, they moved to eliminate the local enemy commander and rescue the Chellorussian President, a mission with mixed results. Things took a turn for the worse after that as NATO, ever cautious to risk further assets, could not recover 3 Pl and they were left to high tail it out of the AO being relentlessly pursued by three different factions on their way out. Managing to extricate themselves at the last minute, VCB returned to the fleet sombre at the deteriorating situation in the country but with renewed confidence that their training could get them out of the worst of situations.

Rebasing, Training & Leadership
Almost with the coming of the New Year came a new base for 1st Battalion, previously being local to the British Army's Copehill Down Village AUC training ground, the battalion has now moved to the locale of CENTA, the British Forces training area in the Celle region of Germany. With extensive facilities for all types of training, VCB has continued its ongoing cycle wherever possible in between major deployments. Recent training has focused on platoon-sized attacks, ambush and anti-ambush drills and a back-to-basics night with a full platoon redux of Phase One Training amongst other 'bolt-on' courses for new recruits. In the same vein of keeping everything fresh, due to vacancies arising within the rank structure Scotia and Lorcan have moved up to the rank of Lance Corporal and taken on the 2IC role for 1 and 2 Sections, respectively. Both have demonstrated immense energy and maturity in their previous roles as Senior Riflemen and they are both now making their presence felt as they deliver top notch section drills and admin. Congratulations to both of them.

Joints Ops, PR & In-house Development
As well as VCBs regular mission nights we are now working with Zulu Alpha, the premier ArmA outfit from South Africa, on a force-on-force counter-insurgency campaign dubbed Operation ALICE. Despite mixed results from VCBs perspective from the first mission (one of VCB's NCOs got captured and interrogated), we all look forward to the next iteration and learning lessons from the previous outings. Also working towards our outside image a new website is in the works which will bring the first contact many potential recruits have with VCB up to modern standards. There has been a real wealth of talent on show from VCB lately too, with Legion moving towards a public release of the FPII/NP Aerospace MASTIFF PPV, the first British version of the Cougar 6x6 to be announced, Tupolov of MSO fame creating an amazing modification to the Advanced Combat Radio Environment add-on to introduce the full range of modern British 'Bowman' radio equipment, at the same time as working with Highhead, Gunny and Friznit also of VCB with the rest of the Multi-Session Operations team on the recently released, highly acclaimed 4.5 edition. VCB are lucky enough to be testing the recent Headless Client tool with MSO which has vastly improved performance and playability.

Looking Forward
As we move into the New Year, 1st Bn VCB are ready to deploy on our first campaign of 2013, Operation NOSTALGIA. Returning to the classic environment of Everon (well known from OFP) we're looking forward to getting back into it after the seasonal festivities. We've also just updated our modpack with some fresh changes to unit configs, weapon balancing and medical equipment, as well as adding in the fantastic new Reshmaan Province map.
If you're interested in taking part in some of the best milsim in the ArmA community without any of the usual nonsense that comes attached, why not check out our Recruitment Pack .PDF which is a great read for anyone looking to find out more, and if you like what you see, head on over to our Recruitment Forum.

[friznit2]

It's been a long time since the last update but you'd be mistaken to think it's all quiet at VCB. Since Christmas we've been on six worldwide campaigns, made significant recruitment and training progress and carried out several optimisation tweaks to the way we run things. Put simply, thanks to the years of hard work from everyone involved in VCB and ArmA2 we're enjoying a period of smooth sailing and consistently great milsim gaming. The Platoon has been running at full strength for several months and we've had to be much more selective about who we recruit as our focus as ever remains on quality rather than quantity.

Deployments
Highlights from our recent campaigns around the Armaverse include returning to 3 (Morton) Platoon's hometown on the island of Everon to fight rogue elements of the Russian military, including a desperate last stand in The Red Lion pub. Demonstrating the operational versatility of the platoon, we have conducted ops involving airborne assets, setting out in Merlins at approximately zero dark thirty, fought through some intense close quarters action in Reshmaan, carried out hit and run raids in the desert and conducted peace keeping and humanitarian aid operations in Faysh Khabur. In the spring we deployed on Operation SHARPENED MANGO, tasked on a special mission to hunt down missing SCUD missile launchers. Meanwhile news was coming in of a major escalation on Panthera and it was no great surprised when the Platoon was recalled to deploy on Operation BALLENTINE. In a departure from the traditional approach, this campaign employed elements of Multi Session Operations, Headless Client and an external Company Commander to plan and deliver a fully dynamic and persistent campaign covering a six week period.

Platoon Reorg
Given the recent surge in recruitment and the improving overall standards within 3 Platoon, we have re-rolled our dedicated Manoeuvre Support unit back into a regular rifle section ad stood up a Platoon Sergeant's group. This gives us greater flexibility across the platoon and helps maintain the momentum of our missions so there's less stop-start between objectives. This also opened up a new JNCO position for 3 Section 2IC, for which we ran a Potential JNCO cadre over a period of two weeks to down select potential candidates. Competition was fierce and very close, but congratulations go to L/Cpl Hunter for passing the JNCO Cadre with flying colours and taking one of the coveted and very rare leadership positions in VCB.

The training programme has been reviewed to provide better capability, more often. Driven forward by our resident Royal Marine, we now have a more student intensive Phase 1 Training course for all riflemen to go through and a streamlined pre-operation basic training course so people can get in on the action quickly after joining. We're still evaluating feedback on the system but it appears to be generally well received.

New Game, New Website
We're as excited as everyone about the forthcoming sequel in our favourite franchise. Our transition plans have been outlined by our Platoon Commander, giving everyone plenty of clarity on the who, what, why and how we'll be moving to ArmA 3. It won't be until after release of the full game but we're planning for the future already so expect to hear more about those changes in due course. Given our current activity and recruitment levels are so high, we've also put the finishing touches on a new website design for VOLCBAT.com. Encompassing useful tools such as the teamspeak viewer and picture/video galleries, we've also added more frontpage content and useful information for those looking to find out more about VCB.

If you're interested in milsim in ArmA2 without the risk of being awarded a fake medal or having to shout "Sir, yes Sir!" to someone who's never even held a rifle, take a look at our information pack and check out our website for further details on how to apply to the Volunteer Commando Battalion.