Super Soaker Central

Just finished a short 1v1 skirmish, my first of this year. Here's the brief story, if anyone cares to read it:

Date: 25th March 2005
Time: around 1645 to 1720
Numbers: 1 v 1
Weapons: XXP 275 v XP 310
Game type: 1HK, best of three
Location: Largish garden

Round One

We retreated to opposite sides of the house to start, holding our respective blasters. A couple of tentative shots came from my opponent's XP 310, but I was round the corner and several yards on, so the shots fell harmlessly.

I stopped and considered my position. I had been in many a standoff in that position, as a tall hedge ran parallel to the house wall, making a narrow alley. I had no particular wish to have the fight degenerate into that intensely boring tradeoff of shots, which seems to go on for ever. So I decided on a different plan of action.

Quietly moving through a gate in the hedge, I arrived at a position where I could partially see through it. Now it was time to wait...and wait...and wait, while my opponent continued to fire along the alley, not knowing where I was.

Eventually, I heard signs of movement. I waited until I could see his body, then fired my 275 on dual large nozzles over the hedge.

It so nearly did for him. Somehow, though, he escaped being hit, and retreated very hastily to his original position.

So it was back to waiting again. After a short while, I turned my head and saw him fast approaching on my side of the hedge - time to get moving! Retreating back to the gate, I turned and fired. On he came though, so I retreated further, through the gate and into a small cluster of buildings. After firing a couple of times at me, he disappeared round one building.

Hmm...this could be dangerous. And it got to be. Re-appearing, there followed a fast-paced series of shots which came perilously close to hitting me, but just not quite...how I got out of that is a mystery, considering one time I was practically trapped in a corner. Anyway, the fact is, I did, and coming out of that little complex, I made for cover on the other side of a lawn. My opponent again opened fire on me as we passed in opposite directions, but his shot wavered slightly and missed me by a whisker.

Suddenly, he stopped. Apparently, I had hit him in that last passing shot. So it was Round One to me - and I was glad it was finished!

Round Two

After refilling our guns, we restarted, this time, however, at different ends of that same alley as before. Unsurprisingly, it quickly became a matter of taking alternate shots at each other down that alley. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to hit him all the way down his back with one of my shots, and so took the series.

Round Three

Two-nil up, with nothing to lose except the round, we took our positions. This time, I stood behind a large bush, waiting for him to some out of the alley, see me and come round it the way I was sure he would come, upon which I would retreat behind another, smaller tree to open fire on him when he attacked my previous position.

He came in a different way, however, through the gate in the hedge. As he raced towards my position, I jumped off a small wall away from him and ducked down behind it as he blasted away at the area.

Two drops hit the back of my neck, but thankfully that was not grounds for losing. Shifting along, I came round the side of that bush and went round that bush. I didn't hit him, but continued moving until I found myself in that little complex that I had been in in the first round. I didn't particularly fancy another episode there, so at the first opportunity, I rushed out and blasted away at him as he came round the other way around the building. The spray nozzle coupled with a regular one found its mark on his head, thus ending the series and giving me a three-nil whitewash.

Overall Opinion

This was a fun little series. Nothing too thrilling, but it was a good warm-up for the season's soaking. Still, more warm-ups with larger numbers will be more than welcome, and I look forward to organising some in the next few weeks - and then, I hope, some major summer battles!

Final Result

3 - 0 to Spinner