Republic of Dalmatia Imagi-Nation

[chrisswim]

Safety officers

[redleg]

The first day of competition for the 2024 Tanker’s Ball was a smashing success! The crews seemed to recover from last night’s festivities rather well, though country singer Lonesome Joe was upset because much of the audience abandoned his concert to watch some “crazy bare-chested pipe and drum team” that was playing on the street.

The Dragoon Regiment was up bright and early, tearing up the gunnery range with cannon and machine gun fire. They engaged stationary and moving targets, and then thy did it all over again with full chemical protective suits and masks. It was a loud, but exciting event! For the Dragoon Regiment, the top shooting company was from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and the top shooting tank was tank number 7 from the RPNW’s D Company of the 1st Cavalry Squadron. Tomorrow the Hussar Regiment will take their shot and the overall winners will be declared.

The Hussar Regiment hit the driving course in a mud-soaked driving adventure. Each tank made 2 runs through the course, and then a third run in full chemical protective gear. For the Hussar Regiment, the top driving company was C Troop / 1st Squadron / 5th ACR from the ROD, and the top driving tank crew was tank number 5 from C / 1 / 5 ACR. Home field advantage perhaps? We will find out tomorrow when the Dragoon regiment tackles the driving course and overall winners are determined.

Despite the fantastic competition, there was some controversy at Armadillo Barracks today. While event organizers encourage tank crews to practice and warm up prior to entering the driving course, they must stress that the local golf course it off limits to all military vehicular traffic. It’s true that some sand traps make excellent hull down positions, but the term “bunker” is a misnomer in this case.

[chrisswim]

Running some Avatar Ale up to the work areas on POP and ROD. They have done extremely well. We gotta change the results.
The Balzac Republic congratulates those that were recognized. Let’s celebrate!!!

[MechCommander]

(deleted).

[redleg]

Every time you post some stupid ** CENSORED ** like that I think about invading NC.

[MechCommander]

Ok no more stupid posts for now on.

[redleg]

The tankers were back for a second day of fierce competition, but with the roles reversed today. The Dragoon Regiment tackled the driving course, which was admittedly pretty torn up after yesterday’s activity. It was a muddy, sticky mess, and the ROD tankers started the day confident that they would walk away with the trophy, but the RPNW Broad Sword tankers from the 1st Cavalry Squadron hit the course and appeared unstoppable. Their tankers scored a record 5 perfect scores, which makes them the overall winner. The company will receive a plaque and tank number 5 will receive a trophy for being the top driving crew!

At the same time, the Hussar Regiment took on the gunnery range, firing cannon and machine guns at both stationary and moving targets, including an iteration in full chemical protective gear. The tankers were shooting exceptionally well, and the competition came down to the CoC Merkavas of A Company / 147th Armor and the POP KF-51s of the Royal Canadian Dragoons (who shot yesterday). Both companies went through the gunnery range a second time to determine a winner. In the end, the company award goes to The Royal Canadian Dragoons for best shooting as a company, and the individual tank trophy goes to tank number 3 of the CoC’s 147th Armor.

Tomorrow is a very busy day! The tankers should enjoy themselves tonight, but please be safe. We do not want the fire department to come to the party tonight as they will drink a lot of Avatar while they are here. The fire marshal asked us to remind everyone that bonfires are allowed in designated areas, but that under no circumstances should pyrotechnics, grenade simulators, hoffman devices, or cans of easy cheese be thrown into the fires.

The Hussar Regiment will be hitting the Tank Biathlon course bright and early, and all tanks will complete round 1 of the Capture the Hill competition. On top of that, the maintenance teams will undergo the demanding maintenance competition!

[chrisswim]

Should have sent more Avatar Ale with the best hostesses there are: The Swedish Bikini Team.
Flying them in, should be landing in a couple of hours.
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Congratulations to the winners. Great competition.
Enjoyable people at the competition, crews and support-maintenance crews especially!!
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Thank you gentlemen and fellow Imagi-Nations.

At the Tankers Ball. One of our Merkava V tanks got stuck in a mud pit. Pulling it out at night with Engineer/recovery Merkava with help. Extra cables hooked up. We were able to get it extract after much fussing’ n cussing’.

Drone photo

[MechCommander]

The POP Tank units are back at their Camp to toast the Royal Canadian Dragoons in celebration for their 2 Wins in the shooting Competition. One of our M35 trucks brought in a case of fine Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey along with Wine cups bearing the units logo for the Celebration.

[redleg]

Another actioned packed day is in the books! All the tankers were in action today, and the Hussar Regiment got some extra abuse as they tackled the biathlon event. Each tank had to negotiate a challenging obstacle course while engaging targets with main gun and machine guns. The tanks were required to keep moving at all times, and a penalty is assessed for any tank that stopped at any point! The Hussar companies performed very well, but the competition is not over until the Dragoon Regiment completes this event tomorrow morning.

The tankers took a short break today and the maintenance teams stepped into the breach for the maintenance competition. This extremely challenging event required a single tank (selected at random) to be parked in a dirt lot and the maintenance team endeavored to change the power pack and both tracks. And then just to make it even harder, at the 30 minute mark the site was hit with a simulated chemical attack and the maintenance team had to complete the exercise in full chemical protective gear. At the end of this exhausting and sweat-soaked event, the winning company was determined to be the KDF reservists of the 73rd Battalion! Well done gentlemen!

Today, one of the most exciting events kicked off as well! Round 1 of the Capture the Hill competition was held in the maneuver area, with each company going head-to-head against another company in an effort to seize a hilltop using MILES equipped tanks. The fights were vicious, close range affairs today, but it’s still too early to determine who is on top. Round 2 will be held tomorrow!

[MechCommander]

The POP maintenance crews return to our camp after their round of competition, exhausted and still coughing from the sudden gas attack that they where not expecting it to happen, nor where prepared for. But they did their very best dispite it. from the lessons learned from this event there will be a update to Gas mask training is in order in the near future.

[7.62]

What a great competition, well done to the ROD.


A combination of old fart wisdom and the right tools for the job helped the KDF team from 73rd Bat, 7th Bde to a surprise win today.
It also helped that they had over the years maybe swapped more powerpacks the old KT99 than any other unit in the KDF Armoured Corps.
They were the first reserve unit to receive the KT99 (most still use the KT96) and over the years they have seen it and done it!
When asked if the NBC gear was a problem, the chief said "not as much as a -50 windchill".
The CO of the 73rd was well please with their performance and the bragging rights that go along with it, all good ammo against the "professionals" from the 3rd Bde.

The powerpack on the new KT99A is in fact much better unit, a true work of art. Smaller, more powerful and in theory easier to change.
Still the new 99A MBT's have only been in service for about 18 Months, give the youngsters another ten years and they will have it down to a tee.

[redleg]

Today was a frenzy of activity, and we are happy to announce that there were no real-word casualties! The post hospital reported 4 cases of alcohol poisoning last night among competitors, but all tanks were up and running with full crews this morning. While impressive, our event safety coordinator asks that tankers hospitalized with alcohol related injuries please do not sneak out to their tanks and roll out of the motor pool in their hospital gown and CVC helmet.

The Dragoon Regiment hit the field first to complete the tank biathlon competition. The tanks all performed exceedingly well, but after driving and shooting for time and score, the winners were crowned. The top tank company in the biathlon competition is the CoC’s B Company / 1st Monacodom! And the top tank in the biathlon is tank number 3 from the KDF’s 73rd Battalion! The reservists are showing off again!

All afternoon was spent in the training area as all companies competed in round 2 of the Capture the Hill competition! If anything, today’s battles were even more intense than yesterdays. After the battles were all over, the head referee decided that all the companies needed another round, each company fought for their hill twice! So, after 3 battles for some god-forsaken dirt mound out in the middle of the training area, the following 4 companies will be moving on to the final round tomorrow:

CoC B Company / 1st Monacodom
CoC A Company / 147th Armor
POP 1st Company / 31 Brigata Carri Armata
ROD C Troop / 1 / 5th ACR

Tomorrow will be action packed as these 4 companies go head-to-head for the title of King of the Hill! And then in the afternoon all 100 tanks will hit the maneuver area for the Feeding Frenzy competition, where all tanks will fight for their lives. In the end, only 1 tank crew will be immortalized as the top tank crew of 2024!

And then tomorrow night, after all the mud and grease is washed off, the Tanker’s Ball will be held in the post gymnasium. Mess dress uniforms are in order for this event!

[chrisswim]

The Moroccodom CO has just filed a formal complaint!!! The POP tank company in the M46 tanks or the older M26 Pershings tanks have ruined the grounds prior to our competition. Their tracks are not thick enough as they are using Sherman tracks which are not as wide as the proper Pershing tracks. Thus the tanks sank into the mud making the ruts deeper. Made is much more difficult. We had to extract 4 tanks with recovery vehicles. Yet no one else had more than 1 tank in a task or event needing extra help. They were not out to win per say ... but to set up Terrain to make it much more difficult for competitors of POP/NC, etc. The formal request is to disqualify the POP champions. They must forfeit their award.
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Col Roberto of the Morrocodom unit made comment about the leader of Sheik yer Bouti back in Yer Bouti in the southern part of West Africa. years ago. Just something about him. Similar personality, same body movement, voice, the eyes. Just amazing. He served for a period of time in the British Army. Just a coincidence...?
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When the CoC 147 Rgmt came across the POP armor, three where in this mud pit. Think they where hiding the tanks to surprise others???



Later, only the turrets where above the level of the mud. It appeared that digging was trying hide-bury the M26 Pershing tanks.

[chrisswim]

Recovery-engineer vehicles on the scene. Hook up cables pulling one out. The bulldozer and Merkava were going to pull another out, But he put his M26 in reverse, thus the Merkava slide down the hill.



In another hour or so, this situation should set. All armor out of the mud pit.