STARBURST 2018: Our Tenth Year
In March 2009, Godfather, Castle, Coach, and myself, decided to bring a very different kind of Airsoft event to South Texas. Players from all over the southern Texas area converged on a closed county park, were welcomed and briefed on the scenario, then headed out to their start points. Karankawan Forces (KFORCE) had initial defense positions with the scenario being that they had just landed on the Oso shoreline and were attempting to defend against an Allied counterattack.
Coach led the KFORCEs, with Godfather, Castle, and myself, leading the allies. The result? Players got a chance to experience something different. An event that would have two sides doing much more than just team death match, or attempting to move a box from point A to point B. A battle over terrain, with a storyline that carried from one phase to another. The result was Starburst.
Spring of 2010, We shifted Starburst to a new AO, the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi Army ROTC Training Area, again KFORCEs were fighting the Allies, this time it would be by simulated amphibious and airborne landings. The fighting was tough with both sides fighting in pockets of terrain, sometimes surrounded. New players threw themselves into the story. Doc Govan led the Allies against the KFORCE attackers. Our attendance had more than doubled by the 2010 Starburst and we knew that for 2011, We would need a much more complex AO in terms of terrain.
STARBURST III-V (2011-2013) Victoria, Texas
Abel's Paintball in Victoria, Texas provided an awesome AO for the next 3 years, with complex terrain (valleys, thick woods, open urban type areas), and for the next 3 Starburst Events, each side took turns depending on the outcome of the previous year's winner.
With the untimely passing of Abel, the staff took the event up to Central Texas and Temple Airsoft, a departure from the local South Texas Airsoft scene, for Starburst VI in 2014, the varied terrain of the field maintained the clash of the two sides. The addition of vehicles in support of both sides, also upped the ante.
2015, A return to South Texas for Starburst VII
A new larger AO was needed for what would be one of the largest South Texas Ops, and the Loma Linda Ranch in Mathis, Texas, provided it with a mix of a rock quarry, hills, valleys, structures. With 300 players coming out for Starburst VII, each side would be challenged in terms of planning their deployments, vehicle support, and what objectives to attack and defend.
The action was intense, as both sides maneuvered over a large battlespace, using the most out of their vehicles and battlefield multipliers like artillery, smoke, and close air support.
The second Starburst held in Mathis, saw a record number of players, and Coach bringing the TCA TIER 1 missions, a first for the Starburst series.
"What we have seen over the last 9 years of this event series is unit cohesion, loyalty, and preparation," stated Coach, "There are players that have ran the same side, company, and unit for the last 9 years, where else can you see that over that long of a time period?"
STARBURST 2018 and a new AO: Fort Hood's MOUT Sites
An opportunity opened up with supporting the Marine Corps Reserve's Ball Fundraiser using the MOUT Sites at Fort Hood, Texas. "We have had experience supporting other MILSIM Events on Fort Hood before, but this time it will be a pure 3rd Coast Event," stated Zmonster, "meaning that we are bringing out everything that we normally do at our other events and previous Starbursts, the TIER 1 missions, the large maneuver and objectives, plus more. The action won't be limited to just the two MOUT sites, but it include all the complex terrain in between."
This is our 10th year of the TCA event that started it all for all those players that have been apart of the 3rd Coast Community of teams and players. Don't miss it.
