| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_03.PNG]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Film/ThreeHundred}} THIS.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis IS.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se6jueOLTaU SHACKTACCC!!]]]] |
| 3 | -> ''Serious fun'' |
| 4 | -->-- '''Shack Tactical's ''' motto |
| 5 | |
| 6 | '''[[http://dslyecxi.com/shacktac_wp/ Shack Tactical]]''' (or "''[=ShackTac=]''") is a dedicated gaming community that posts videos of multi-player sessions in military simulator games, particluarly ''{{VideoGame/ArmA}}'' (although they occasionally post videos from other games as well). [=ShackTac=] members are hand-picked, and are known for maintaining remarkable discipline, while at the same time keeping a very friendly and oftentimes humorous atmosphere. As their motto states, [=ShackTac=]'s appeal lies equally in both these aspects. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | In ''[=ArmA=]'', [=ShackTac=] runs large-scale operations (some videos may contain upwards of 100 players), with very organized teamwork and intricately-designed combat missions. They tend to use more low-tech equipment, forgoing fancy equipment and heavy vehicle support in favor of tougher, closer-range fights than the game potentially allows. Missions can vary greatly from one another, ranging from lighthearted fun to truly nightmarish scenarios. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The team has had thousands of active members over the years, though only a handful actually post their videos online. Some, but not all of its members are ex-military. You probably know them from these six: |
| 11 | |
| 12 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Dslyecxi?feature=watch Dslyecxi]], the group founder. Dslyecxi's been around since the earliest days of the ''[=ArmA=]'' series, and has posted the most [=ShackTac=] videos by a wide margin. Besides leading the group, he's written a popular and very elaborate [[http://ttp3.dslyecxi.com/index.php Tactics, Techniques, & Procedures guide]], and [[PromotedFanboy now makes official videos for ArmA 3]] and other Bohemia Interactive products. |
| 13 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Beaglerush Beagle]] (aka. Beaglerush) is a player from Sydney, Australia who held a key position in the group, and made many video uploads over the years. Beagle left ''Shack Tactical'' in early 2015, and is now more known for his popular ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' live-streams. Beagle's girlfriend, Jamball, was also a member of [=ShackTac=] for a few years. |
| 14 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/CHKilroy CHkilroy]], a Californian with a penchant for video/audio editing and a [[ObfuscatingInsanity wacky]], [[BlackHumor off-key approach]] to the game. He's still one of the most prolific uploaders of the group, despite having taken several long breaks from [=ShackTac=] over the last few years. |
| 15 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/VespertineSturgeon Taconic]] is currently one of the main administrators for [=ShackTac=], handling a variety of tasks connected to running the [=ShackTac=] community. Hailing from the American northeast, Taconic enjoys witty banter and foreign cultures (Scottish and Oceanic, specifically), and has the ears of a fox. He often posts videos of himself and other Shackers playing other, non-shooter multiplayer games together. |
| 16 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/JiveDilletante Jive]] is a pilot in real life, which explains his skill at flying and his [[DangerDeadpan unwavering calm voice]]. Jive has also posted a good number of videos from the DCS series, where he flies a variety of aircraft. |
| 17 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/blckdrgn813 BlackDragon]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | With their rise in popularity within and outside the ''[=ArmA=]'' community, the number of applications to join [=ShackTac=] has risen as well. [=ShackTac=] members are accepted on the basis of constant review; not to see whether they are skilled players, but whether they fit well into the [=ShackTac=] community. Members must be 18 or older - among many other requirements. |
| 20 | ----- |
| 21 | !!Examples: |
| 22 | |
| 23 | * AccidentalAimingSkills: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z21xzIBrM0U One in a Million]]'', as Dslyecxi offloads some troops into a hot [=LZ=], an [=AI=] soldier fires an [=RPG=] at the helicopter, but instead hits [[ButtMonkey Ghostboots]]. |
| 24 | -->'''Website/YouTube comment''': "RIP lone infantry man. You will be [[PinkMist mist]]." |
| 25 | * TheAce: Although all Shackers are, at the end of the day, exceptionally skilled players of ''VideoGame/ArmA'', Dslyecxi often demonstrates that he is the most skilled player in the group. He displays the technical skills of playing ''VideoGame/ArmA'' in a variety of different roles, shows a depth of tactical and even strategic understanding of combat situations, and has clearly demonstrated his skill in maintaining a complex community like [=Shack Tactical=] in the first place. [[InUniverse Within the context of ShackTac videos]], Dslyecxi's skills sometimes surprise even longtime members, who occasionally attribute it to [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane some sort of magical power]] that he must possess. Of particular note is Dslyecxi's ability to [[AcePilot fly helicopters under the most intense pressure]], to [[OneManArmy always leave his mark on the battlefield]], and of course to [[TheChessmaster manipulate people and situations to his advantage]]. Many of the other trope examples listed here refer to the variety of ways in which Dslyecxi demonstrates The Ace trope. |
| 26 | * AcePilot: |
| 27 | ** Dslyecxi is this with helicopters, and in particular the M/AH-6 "Littlebird" - a small and quick helicopter used for scouting, transport of a handful of men, and/or Close Air Support against soft targets. He has flown many many hours on the Littlebird, and '''many of those hours''' have been featured in his and other Shackers' videos over the years. |
| 28 | *** In a short snippet called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p88G8LSB__s :clint:]]'', Dslyecxi is seen flying really fast and low through the city of Fallujah, on the way to insert a new fireteam into a friendly-controlled landing zone. As he ascends to observe the [=LZ=], a machine gun opens fire and hits the helicopter's engine with the very first burst. The engine shuts down, and the helicopter begins falling to the ground. Struggling with the stick, Dslyecxi swings away from the source of fire and begins to do his best to autorotate the helicopter into a safe landing spot. Halfway down to the ground, the helicopter is hit again by an RPG, which powerfully knocks it aside, threatening to crash it right into the trees and buildings below. Despite all of this, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin he manages to land it]] ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin flawlessly]]''. |
| 29 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' Oh HELL yeah! You fuckin' saw that!\ |
| 30 | '''Passenger #1:''' That was fucking ''awesome!''\ |
| 31 | '''Passenger #2:''' That was badass.\ |
| 32 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [[WelcomeToHell Welcome to Fallujah]]. |
| 33 | * ActionGirl: Any female Shacker, but particularly [=CraneSong=]. She is often seen backing up Dslyecxi, whether on foot or as the gunner on whatever he happens to be flying. |
| 34 | * AdviceBackfire: |
| 35 | ** At the start of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDS5XvzvHI FAC Tanoa]]'', Dslyecxi (the Platoon Medic) advises Taconic (the [=FAC=]) that "if you happen to lose track of your medic, don't go back for him". This is in reference to the previous mission in the jungle (''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-4vncvZiJE Can't Help Dead Men]]''), where Dslyecxi (the [=FAC=]) did try to go back for the Platoon Medic and got himself killed. At the end of ''FAC Tanoa'', Dslyecxi is shot, and Taconic decides to take his advice and leave him behind in the jungle. |
| 36 | *** Another borderline example occurs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDS5XvzvHI in the same video]], where Taconic advises Morgan -- the Platoon Leader -- to continue on to the last objective of the mission instead of extracting from the combat zone, and even [[NobodyCallsMeChicken goads him into it a little]]. Only a few seconds later, Morgan is killed, Taconic inherits command of the platoon, and immediately decides to extract instead. |
| 37 | * AllForNothing: |
| 38 | ** After a short but intense fight on the bridge-top in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtiYJ2NNDA4 Highwaymen]]'', Dslyecxi decides to take his fireteam across the road and make an elaborate and brilliantly-executed flanking maneuver to take the enemy from behind by surprise. Everything works flawlessly - except for the fact that the enemy had already been whittled down to practically nothing, so Dslyecxi's team never got to fire a shot. This flanking maneuver spans nearly half the video, and is surprisingly interesting to watch. |
| 39 | ** In one of Dslyecxi's oldest videos, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6Jes67NME Kevb0 Never Leaves a Man Behind]]'', [=Kevb0=] assaults and hijacks a truck in order to try and save Kaider. He drives down a long road towards Kaider's location, keeping comms with him and trying to get him out of the town he's in for a pickup. Kaider is killed just as [=Kevb0=] is about to reach him. |
| 40 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ws0wAJIfBk Defense of Bar Kanday]]'', Dslyecxi decimates an enemy assault team attempting to flank through his sector, killing quite a few. From his perspective it may seem like the defenders are going to hold, even though they've lost most of their men. Unfortunately, once we get to the post-death spectator view, we see the enemy win anyway, and with remarkably low casualties for them. |
| 41 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHokY27FD4o Enfailed]]'' is an Adversarial video where Dslyecxi plays a scout for his platoon, running around in the dense forest with an Enfield bolt-action rifle to seek the enemy's flanking unit and try to snipe at it. Throughout the video, he locates and shadows a large enemy element and engages it repeatedly from cover with pin-point accurate shots, firing a total of 7 bullets and hitting no fewer than 6 enemies squarely in the chest. At the end of the video, we learn that [[spoiler:only one of them was actually killed. This is because the Enfield's .303 rounds were modeled very badly in [=ArmA 2=]]]. |
| 42 | * AlternateUniverse: Alternate universes aren't exactly rare in multiplayer games, since a bug or server-lag can cause players' clients to become "desynchronized" from one another, creating two or more different instances of the same in-game reality. However Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPc7RszIdD4 Everything is Fine]]'' takes this to the next level when his helicopter is hit and loses its engine but his ''[=ArmA=]'' client doesn't get the memo. Since he's the one flying the helicopter, the server has no choice but to accept his "reality", allowing the helo to continue flying as normal. From everyone else's perspective however, the rotor has completely stopped rotating. (Which unnerves Dslyecxi's co-pilot [=CraneSong=] and the FAC watching this to no end). Dslyecxi eventually decides to [[UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat collapse this quantum superposition]]; [[spoiler: He goes silent and pretends to have been killed, in order to force Crane to take control of the helicopter. This would let them see if her "reality" would assert itself, and the helo would stop flying, or whether the computer's mix up would cause it to keep flying. Unfortunately, according to the conversation between Dslyecxi and Crane at the end of the video, Crane waited too long to take over, so by then the helicopter was so low it was virtually certain to crash no matter what]]. |
| 43 | * ArchEnemy: Enemy snipers, for Dslyecxi. [=ShackTac=] almost never uses magnified optics, and hasn't employed sniper teams in years (for a variety of reasons that have been explained to death because people will never stop asking about them). When snipers are encountered however (especially in [=DayZ=]), Dslyecxi will make it a personal priority to hunt and kill the snipers himself, as a wake-up call. |
| 44 | ** Examples of this include ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXn62xhmi4 What Dslyecxi Thinks of Snipers]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kds_LSE9Axg The Art of Sniping]]''. |
| 45 | ** Of course, there's also ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1dH73p3Yvc Inside the Mind of a Guerrilla Sniper]]'', where Dslyecxi himself took the role, to show how it's supposed to be done. |
| 46 | * ArtifactOfDeath: |
| 47 | ** Infantry transports have been gradually turning into this, at least [[InUniverse in the eyes of the Shackers]], due to the high likelihood of vehicles getting destroyed and killing everyone on board. This has reached a point where the troops will sometimes refuse to board a vehicle - even when directly ordered to do so - preferring to go on foot instead. In the past few years, this has saved the lives of many a fireteam, making those infantrymen justifiably GenreSavvy. |
| 48 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BwylCDp0Sg Swamped Things]]'' Fracsid makes the mistake of attempting to get an anti-tank launcher off a dead enemy right on top of a rocky cliffside. As any ''[=ArmA=]'' player would know, this is a recipe for death. |
| 49 | ---> '''Fracsid (after respawn):''' I fought the LAW and the LAW won. |
| 50 | * AwesomenessIsAForce: Dslyecxi. His very presence visibly affects the others - whether they are friendly or enemy. This is particularly true if he's flying a Littlebird at the time. |
| 51 | * BadassBoast: During the fighting in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5DF-SmwXec DEAD Patrol]]'', Jaroldo gets an [=RPG-7=] with several [=HEDP=] rockets off a dead enemy, declaring himself to be "a total badass now". (Around 30:10) He lives up to the boast almost immediately, by scoring a one-shot deadly hit on an enemy [=M113=] with a rocket. Then he finds a load of extra morphine and epinephrine for the squad. Later, Dslyecxi sarcastically refers to him as "Captain Badass" while [[DesignatedPointMan goading him to move ahead to the next cover]]... and thus directly into the line of fire until Jaroldo reaches cover. Jaroldo is shot and nearly killed, but survives, prompting Dslyecxi to start talking about Jaroldo as if he really is "Captain Badass" and nothing can really kill him. (Around 39:00 in.) A few minutes later, when Dslyecxi hears that Jaroldo's finally been killed, he is audibly disheartened, and makes sure to put about ten extra bullets into the prone body of the guy who killed Jaroldo. |
| 52 | --> '''Killoch:''' I'm sorry, Dslyecxi. Jaroldo's dead.\ |
| 53 | '''Dslyecxi:''' What?! No! My Captain Badass! [Some time passes, then Dslyecxi looks at the corpse in the next room] Did that fucking dude get him?\ |
| 54 | '''Killoch:''' Yeah.\ |
| 55 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Ah, motherfucker. [Riddles the corpse with bullets] |
| 56 | * BadassCreed: "Serious Fun". |
| 57 | * BlackComedy: [=ShackTac=] aims for authenticity including treating the dangers of combat seriously. At the same time they are playing video games so more often than not death is treated with "darn it" and a laugh. |
| 58 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9zEj3SE6pg Stryker Delivery]]'' is an excellent example. Dslyecxi's squad watches from a distance as a Stryker takes a hit and is set on fire, when suddenly a crewman jumps out of the vehicle and burns to death. The squad reacts with [[CrossesTheLineTwice equal parts laughter, being shaken up by how dark the event is, and back to making jokes about how it is seriously affecting them.]] |
| 59 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PktDDpCn1Y Dead on Location]]'' is the story of a news crew who went to have an interview with a military commander, only to be raided and taken hostage by terrorists - who co-opt the cameraman to film them doing an ''"[=ISIS=] execution"'' of that same commander. This is treated with absolutely no gravitas whatsoever. |
| 60 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4aPlXrS3c Embedded with the Coast Guardsmen]]'' is a similar story featuring a news crew, which tags along with a military unit into combat - and is eventually subjected to a ''napalm attack'', in which one reporter's face melts off while the other weeps hysterically. It's a non-stop comedy video. |
| 61 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXOOsTCAPp8 Marg Bar Amrika]]'', a round of ''Human Shield'' in which a group of {{Qurac}}i locals shadow an American infantry unit, shouting all sorts of ridiculously stereotypical phrases at them (while the soldiers do their best not to perpetrate any war crimes), and eventually [[spoiler:taking some of them out in a suicide bombing]]. |
| 62 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNHBc0W5fc A Case for Body Cams]]''. In this short video seen from Spectator mode, [=MGbait=] demonstrates the trope by murdering a pair of unarmed criminals, and then [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit accusing their dead bodies of resisting arrest]]. |
| 63 | ** Officer Beagle, Beagle's persona whenever he plays a cop in ''The Game''. Officer Beagle is pretty much [[DirtyCop the worst kind of police officer]] you would ever want to meet. If he stops any player on the road, there's a very high chance that he will [[KillerCop execute them]] shortly thereafter, even if they've done nothing wrong. Occasionally, he may [[FalseFriend help that player kill his target]] first, and ''then'' kill him. ''Officer Beagle'' videos tend to be considered among the funniest in the [=ShackTac=] repertoire. |
| 64 | ** During the [=UAZ=] ride in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Abosolute Madness]]'', the passengers make jokes about Cappy's incredibly bad medical situation while he's unconscious in the front seat and bleeding to death after having been run over by an enemy vehicle. |
| 65 | ---> '''Ghostboots:''' If anyone wants to smother him with a pillow... |
| 66 | * BeCarefulWhatYouSay: If the Game Master happens to hear someone saying "That was easy!" or "Look how many of us have survived so far!", that player's entire unit should expect to encounter a considerably more serious challenge very soon afterwards. |
| 67 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: This philosophy has led Shackers to start using suicide-by-hand-grenade as a last resort against an encroaching zombie horde, in the ''Blackout'' missions. It's usually also a TakingYouWithMe moment, killing some of the zombies to improve the survival chances of the rest of the group. |
| 68 | * BlaseBoast: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fA4XMZERaU Junkyard Apocalypse]]'', Dslyecxi's littlebird suffers a bizarre engine failure in mid-air, which of course doesn't prevent Dslyecxi from landing the bird safely right next to friendlies. On the ground, he meets up with a couple of pilots who were downed earlier, and this exchange takes place: |
| 69 | --> '''Other pilot:''' Was that you that exploded?\ |
| 70 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Nah, I don't... I don't explode. |
| 71 | * BlatantLies: ''Whenever'' someone does something bad. The lies are always ''deliberately'' transparent. |
| 72 | ** During ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfzW3EUeuQk Parapluie]]'', [=CHKilroy=] stabs an [=AI=]-controlled civilian to death, claiming that the civilian had tried to grab his weapon. Needless to say, the [=AI=] is not programmed to do anything like that. |
| 73 | ** Also crops up frequently in ''The Game'' sessions. |
| 74 | --->'''Beagle:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcMs53LhH38 I'LL SAVE YOU, TIMID! TIMID, I'LL SAVE YOU!]] ''[sets up jerry can so he can burn Timid Bun alive]'' |
| 75 | *** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkI65mZP2U Officer Beagle]]'', Taconic succeeds in running Calgon over with his truck, in plain view of the cops. He quickly drives away, and is notified that his next target is Heti. He runs Heti off the road, but then the cops show up, and one of them asks about Taconic's truck. |
| 76 | ---->'''Officer Waffleman:''' Who exactly was driving the red truck?\ |
| 77 | '''Taconic:''' Heti over there was.\ |
| 78 | [Caption reads: "[[LampshadeHanging Blatantly lying]]"] |
| 79 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ4BMlfs__0 An Effective Checkpoint]]'' begins with Officer Beagle saying "Let's park our shit in the middle of the road and stop people from murdering". During this short video, he facilitates two murders. |
| 80 | ---> '''Officer Beagle:''' Ok, so who were you going to assassinate today?\ |
| 81 | '''Mikey:''' That man, right there.\ |
| 82 | '''Officer Beagle:''' Oh. Go ahead. |
| 83 | ** ''Everything'' Dslyecxi says during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'', right up to the moment when he is finally rescued. |
| 84 | * BolivianArmyEnding: |
| 85 | ** Dslyecxi made one of these in [[spoiler:''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJ68WeeBuE Let Me Go Home]]'']]. |
| 86 | ** At the end of [[spoiler:''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4PnJf35vso ShackCops Returns]]'', when Officer Beagle decides to try and disarm a [[HairTriggerExplosive satchel charge]] set up in a [[TooDumbToLive gas station]]]]. |
| 87 | ---> [[spoiler:'''Beagle:''' You guys ever see ''Film/TheHurtLocker''? This is like the intro!\ |
| 88 | '''Hippeus (from a safe distance):''' Didn't they explode in the intro?\ |
| 89 | '''Beagle (disarming):''' No...\ |
| 90 | [End of video] ]] |
| 91 | * BreakingTheFourthWall: Dslyecxi does this every once in a while. In the middle of playing the mission he'll suddenly speak directly to the [=YouTube=] audience (the people who will eventually watch the video). He mostly comments on how bad his current situation is, on what's going through his mind, or on what his options might be. Interestingly, these comments serve to ''increase'' immersion rather than decrease it. |
| 92 | * BreakTheBadass: Dslyecxi doesn't often get scared or even worried, but when he does, you know the situation is bad. |
| 93 | ** While flying a Littlebird with the new realistic nightvision goggles in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbV5MZjEyBY Low Lume Transport]]'', Dslyecxi comments about the terrible visibility: |
| 94 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' See, this is great, because [[ChallengeSeeker it actually makes]] ''[[ChallengeSeeker me]]'' [[ChallengeSeeker nervous while flying]].\ |
| 95 | '''Passenger:''' [laughs] That makes me ''more'' nervous! |
| 96 | * BulletDodge: Since the ballistics model of ''[=ArmA=]'' is fairly realistic, it's not uncommon to see near misses - and Shackers commenting on exactly how close the bullets came to killing them or others. But on occasion, actual divine intervention does occur. |
| 97 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cbWWE45vZ4 Dodging This]]'', Dslyecxi literally dodges a burst from a machine gun, coming from half a mile away. |
| 98 | ** It is not exactly clear how [=CHKilroy=] survived Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSHYrbDE6Q8 Assassination Attempt]]''. To see this from Kilroy's perspective, check out ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO3NFFjhiBM Assault MMG]]''. |
| 99 | * CallASmeerpARabbit: Although ''S.H.A.C.K.E.R'' missions are essentially zombie survival missions, the players will sometimes refer to them as "rioters" rather than "zombies", in keeping with the mission story. Of course, they're still very much zombies. |
| 100 | * CallBack: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8jjp9CdTFM Who Has the What?]]'' features multiple references to Dslyecxi's infamous "experiment" from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPc7RszIdD4 Everything is Fine]]''. Dslyecxi might have snuck in another one late in the video as well: while in the middle of being extracted, Dslyecxi quips that he still has 2 bullets left and maybe they should go back and fight the enemy some more, which brings to mind Dslyecxi's memorable 2015 video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqxRG8yZdcs Two Bullets Away]]'' where Dslyecxi and Mally spend about a half hour alternating between fleeing and fighting the enemy after a mission goes disastrously wrong, and they were both down just two bullets left before they were extracted and taken to safety. |
| 101 | * CaptionHumor: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkD2hNHHgc Quiet Woodland Walk]]'', Dslyecxi spells out Awoihjaweohr's name as "S-A-D-I-S-T-I-C B-A-S-T-A-R-D", while the on-screen caption spells it out as "[=AWOIHJAWEOHR >:|=]". |
| 102 | * TheCavalry: [=BLUFOR=] are supposed to be this during the ''Dark Business'' and ''Caesar Merlin'' missions. They are a small airborne infantry team, equipped with high tech gear and night-vision goggles, whose task is to make precision landings and maneuvers in order to rescue hostages or fleeing friendlies (respectively) out of the danger zone. When it works, it makes for some of the most popular [=ShackTac=] videos of all time. |
| 103 | * CatchPhrase: "Welcome to [=ShackTac=]." |
| 104 | * ChallengeSeeker: |
| 105 | ** Dslyecxi has made quite a few videos showcasing this sort of behavior he has towards the Littlebird helicopter. Some are solo videos where he is just performing all sorts of insane aerobatics, while others show off hot and tight-space landings in a variety of extremely dangerous situations. |
| 106 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erDiASwuc6I Helicopter Hangar Challenge]]'' is a short video showing Dslyecxi attempting a challenge offered by some other ''VideoGame/ArmA'' Youtuber. The challenge is to fly the Littlebird into an aircraft hangar and land it, while the tail rotor is disabled, in first-person view. [[spoiler: On his first attempt, he nails the hangar landing flawlessly, and then takes off and repeats this ''with each and every hangar on the runway'']]. |
| 107 | *** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKX18zrSxLI Spin Me Right Round]]'', his tail rotor and main rotor are damaged early on in the mission, but for the sake of the challenge he refuses to get a new chopper - instead flying the entire mission with these damaged parts. [[spoiler: And miraculously surviving it]]. |
| 108 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_rs7bnbI18 S.H.A.C.K.E.R Pt.1]]'', Beagle (who is playing a helpless female civilian character) tries to make his own life safer by getting Dslyecxi to be this. It fails. |
| 109 | --->'''Beagle:''' Better keep an eye on me, Dslyecxi. I run slower than you.\ |
| 110 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Ah.\ |
| 111 | '''Beagle:''' I'm just saying, [[DareToBeBadass the Ultimate Survivalist would be able to get me off the island]].\ |
| 112 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [laughs] Well, knowing you run slower than me is kind of reassuring, [[TheBait in a last-ditch kind of way]]. |
| 113 | * UsefulNotes/ColdWar: Once ''[=ArmA=] 3'' came out, which is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, Dslyecxi has expressed a preference for ''[=ArmA=]'' 2's late Cold War setting, which includes [=NATO=] and [=WARPACT=] equipment and vehicles from throughout the decades of that war. He has stated that the futuristic weaponry is simply too deadly, making it harder to create the same level of challenge that [=ShackTac=] missions attempt to create. This ties in with [=ShackTac=]'s aversion to magnified optics on small arms, emphasis on guerilla tactics, and mostly-infantry-based warfare. |
| 114 | ** To this end, [=ShackTac=] now relies greatly on several Cold War mods that attempt to import this content from [=ArmA=] 2 into [=ArmA=] 3, such as the [=CUP=] and [=RHS=] mods. |
| 115 | * ConservationOfNinjutsu: Dslyecxi is the embodiment of this trope - and in a setting where he does not in fact have any external advantage. It often seems that the more enemies he has to contend with, the more dangerous he gets. |
| 116 | ** Although ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPal3CDSapk To The Last]]'' ends with Dslyecxi's death, it is an excellent example. Dslyecxi is the Platoon Medic, initially is surrounded by plenty of friendlies defending a small hill, and he is generally too busy treating their injuries to actually shoot anybody. As the video progresses, more and more friendlies are cut down, and the unit is gradually surrounded. By the half-way point of the video, most of the unit has been destroyed, leaving only Dslyecxi and Bricks to try to come up with an escape plan. It is at this point, when then enemy are closing in to dangerous range, that Dslyecxi's kill count begins to increase rapidly - and even more-so when Bricks finally bites the dust. Averted at the very end of the video, where the sheer number of enemies finally overwhelms him. |
| 117 | --->[After Dslyecxi finally dies]\ |
| 118 | '''Sixty:''' Dslyecxi, if I've ever seen a last stand... that was the last stand of last stands. |
| 119 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbCCSY57Rk Too Hot to FAC]]'', Dslyecxi stands up to four enemy tanks, and wins. Later in the mission, however, [[spoiler: a single tank finally gets him]]. |
| 120 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmX1qJr3o8Q House Medic Shall Not Fall]]'' begins with [=BLUFOR=] (the enemy) making a multi-pronged assault on the Russian defenders, easily pushing them back towards their Alamo, and wiping out most of [=OPFOR=] Bravo in the process. With only three men left, Bravo retreats and manages to reach its designated "last stand" position: A lone farmhouse, exposed on the far flank of the defense. As masses of [=BLUFOR=] soldiers close in on Bravo's position, Dslyecxi gets killed trying to scout the enemy's advance, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3F7_i0-bPE&feature=youtu.be&t=625 leaving only Kaiga12 (a rifleman) and Juice (a medic) to defend themselves in that little house]]. [[spoiler:If the title hasn't tipped you off, Kaiga and Juice proceed to annihilate [=BLUFOR=].]] |
| 121 | * ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C2ykIjT3og Scuba's First Beat]]'', rookie Officer [=ScubaSteve=]'s entire unit has just been wiped out in an ambush by Nautilus. Scuba is stuck in his car, with Nautilus shouting at him to drop his weapon. Nautilus then loses patience and start counting down to Scuba's death. Three, two, one... [[spoiler: and then Hippeus, [[VillainousRescue another (totally uninvolved) criminal]], runs up and shoots him in the back]]. |
| 122 | --> [Post-death chat]\ |
| 123 | '''Hippeus:''' Sorry Nautilus, that was just too much of an opportunity.\ |
| 124 | '''Nautilus:''' Why, Hippeus? Why?!\ |
| 125 | '''Hippeus:''' 'Cause I fucking saw you holding a guy up, and I thought you must feel like such a badass right now, I have to stop that. |
| 126 | * CosmicPlaything: If someone in the unit jinxes it by commenting on how well they've been doing so far, the entire unit may become this. The cosmic entity in question is the GameMaster, usually [=ZX64=], who will take such comments as blasphemy and double the efforts of hurting that specific unit. |
| 127 | * CurbStompBattle: A lot of care is put into ensuring that the level of challenge is exactly right, especially in Adversarial ([=PvP=]) missions - but a single unfortunate error on the part of the designer and/or the players can still easily lead to a Curb Stomp Battle. Some examples include: |
| 128 | ** [=CHKilroy=]'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phSiDtlkuMU Vybor Deploy Defense]]'', where the defenders don't even use the dirty moves they discussed during the construction of their fortress, and still manage to wipe out the attackers with only 20% casualties (which is practically nothing in ''[=ArmA=]'' terms). |
| 129 | ** The ending of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWDoT9VARAc Getting Ugly]]'' shows what happens when the mission design doesn't work in exactly the way the designer intended. [[spoiler:Enemy anti-aircraft along with several enemy attack helicopters and jets appear all of a sudden, destroying Dslyecxi's chopper before he even gets a chance to react.]] |
| 130 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ws0wAJIfBk Defense of Bar Kanday]]'', the defending team correctly estimates the attackers' approach vector, and Dslyecxi puts up a serious fight in his sector, mowing down a large group of them. [[spoiler: The enemy then overruns all positions, and wins with a remarkably low casualty count, despite all of Dslyecxi's work]]. |
| 131 | ** Heavy machine gun vs. Littlebird in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXodwnpDjFM Flyswatter]]''. [[spoiler:It took only 4 bullets]]. |
| 132 | ** This happened during two of the early Headless AI Client tests, in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RUkh5GO1Cg The Best Worst Idea]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN3OARgtEXg Craftwork Paradrop]]''. The Headless Client a dedicated server whose only job is to think for the AI - making them much smarter and incredibly dangerous. Each test ended with the entire platoon being wiped out within minutes. |
| 133 | * DangerDeadpan: |
| 134 | ** Getting Jive's voice to show emotion is practically impossible. His British accent is authoritative, calm, and precise at all times - even under heavy fire. Whether this is a result of him being a pilot in real life, or a factor that helped him get that job, has yet to be ascertained. |
| 135 | ** Solace is also this, as evidenced in older videos where he was always leading one element or another into heavy combat. Another British accent there. |
| 136 | ** Dslyecxi can be this at times (and decidedly not at other times). |
| 137 | *** One great example occurs during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbCCSY57Rk Too Hot to FAC]]''. Dslyecxi is on foot, alone, in the middle of a crowd of T-72s and [=BMP=]s, as friendly helicopters try to destroy those vehicles without killing him with them. As the tanks get destroyed, their crews begin to dismount and attack Dslyecxi with their personal weapons, at incredibly close ranges. Under constant fire, he miraculously manages to kill about 6 of them, and then the following exchange takes place: |
| 138 | ---> '''August (apache pilot on radio):''' Can you mark your position again? There's possible infantry moving in on you.\ |
| 139 | [Dslyecxi aims, shoots, and kills a 7th enemy]\ |
| 140 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [[DangerDeadpan Yeah, I've been shooting them]]. |
| 141 | * DealWithTheDevil: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_LNV6VTpc Hip Hip Hooray]]'' Dslyecxi jokes that he had signed a deal with the devil allowing him to do things like shoot down a Hip with an anti-tank launcher, but the deal is it ''has'' to land on friendlies. The joke [[CallBack calls back]] to several instances over the previous few months where Dslyecxi had shot down helicopters that ended up landing on or near friendlies. |
| 142 | * DeathIsCheap: Despite the fact that dozens --if not hundreds-- of Shackers will die in every mission, this trope is still [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Players will often express sincere dismay when their friends die. On the other hand, when a death is explicitly comical, you can expect the appropriate BlackHumor instead. |
| 143 | * DeathSeeker: May happen to the last survivor of a team, especially in Cooperative missions. |
| 144 | ** [[spoiler:Ghostboots]], at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfK7hr-xXUc Optimistic Garmsar]]''. |
| 145 | * DeliberateInjuryGambit: At the start of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqovSKwxoZE U.N. Sleepover]]'', [=CHKilroy=] and his U.N. peacekeeping team are injured by a mission script, which cripples them and prevents them from being healed for the remainder of the mission. They are eventually rescued by a medevac vehicle and taken to safety, but the medics can't do anything to un-cripple them. [=CHKilroy=], by now fed-up with having to crawl everywhere, realizes that suffering a second, non-scripted injury might confuse the script and allow the medics to finally treat them all. How to get that second injury, though? Simple! Shoot each other in the foot! |
| 146 | --> '''[=CHKilroy=]:''' They didn't clear me to engage hostiles, but they cleared me to engage friendlies! |
| 147 | * DescendingCeiling: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbbWkkczKq4 Captain Morgan]]'' features a squad-sized Russian assault on a small enemy aircraft carrier[[note]]Technically, a "Landing Helicopter Dock"[[/note]] as part of a larger operation. The unit enters through the bottom of the ship, ending up in front of a big elevator that goes up to the hangar deck. Due to a weird glitch, one of the first soldiers to go up the elevator falls off the platform and into the shaft, and is unable to get back out again. Of course, the mission has to continue, and there's no other way up to the hangar deck, so... the others call the elevator down again, crushing him. |
| 148 | * DestroyTheEvidence: Officer Beagle does this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4PnJf35vso&list=WL&index=7 ShackCops Returns]]''. When a car drives past and runs down a civilian he had been questioning (and probably [[KillerCop preparing to execute]], as he did to another civilian moments earlier), Beagle shoots out its tires with his shotgun, and then discovers that he may or may not have killed the driver. The entire thing is a mess to explain, so Beagle opts to blow the whole scene up with a satchel charge. |
| 149 | --> '''Officer Beagle:''' Hey, [=BlackDragon=]?\ |
| 150 | '''Officer [=BlackDragon=]:''' Yeah?\ |
| 151 | '''Officer Beagle:''' You can be my witness for, like, an internal review, right?\ |
| 152 | '''Officer [=BlackDragon=]:''' Yeah!\ |
| 153 | '''Officer Beagle:''' Ok, well, you see that car over there? He came driving in, and I shot his tire out, but I didn't shoot ''him''. And I'm not saying he's ''dead'', but...\ |
| 154 | [Massive satchel charge explosion in the distance]\ |
| 155 | '''Officer Beagle:''' [[MockSurpriseReaction Oh my god]]! Well, there goes all the evidence, I guess. |
| 156 | * DeusExMachina: On very rare occasions, it seems like the [=AI=] "backs off" for no real reason, instead of besieging a unit of Shackers indefinitely, or hounding an escaping element to death. This is likely actual intervention by the Game Master, ensuring that the situation doesn't become hopeless. Of course, the Game Master is just as likely to decide that a unit must die (or the mission may be scripted as UnwinnableByDesign from the get-go), leading to DiabolusExMachina instead. The fact that you never know which one it's going to be is a major part of the fun of watching [=ShackTac=] [=CoOp=] missions. |
| 157 | ** The [=BMP=]s that assaulted Dslyecxi's position in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0t4LQesrrU Jumpin' Into It]]'' drive off instead of destroying the building where a dozen Shackers are hiding. This is a blessing for the team hiding inside, since they had no other way of fighting off those [=BMP=]s. |
| 158 | * DiabolusExMachina: The more common type of "outside interference" in [=CoOp=] missions. Expect this to happen at the very worst time, especially during a HopeSpot. Commonly used to end a mission when only a few players are still alive and it's getting time to start a new mission - at which point a [=Mi-24 Hind=] or [=BTR=] will probably show up to hunt down and annihilate them. May also result from [[BeCarefulWhatYouSay jinxing your team]] [[note]]basically, angering the Game Master with your hubris[[/note]]. Finally, a mission may be UnwinnableByDesign, thereby having a Diabolus pre-scripted to appear sooner or later. |
| 159 | ** The ending of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYMsjvuv-o Midnight Run]]'' qualifies. [[spoiler: Hinds show up to blow up the players' boats just as they've gotten in and begun to leave for safety.]] |
| 160 | ** An unintentional one occurs at the very end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWDoT9VARAc Getting Ugly]]''. [[spoiler: So many powerful enemy assets appear suddenly out of nowhere that Dslyecxi doesn't even have time to react before he's shot down]]. This was reportedly a design error. |
| 161 | ** Beautifully averted in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqxRG8yZdcs Two Bullets Away]]'', where the escape attempt is pretty much the whole point of the video. |
| 162 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJOtIi8In_s Stop Loss]]'', as things start getting increasingly grim, the Platoon has received clearance to skip the last objective and go straight home. [=INDFOR=] gets airlifted out, and everybody is getting into their vehicles to punch it out of there when suddenly [[spoiler: enemy grenades rip half the convoy to shreds, killing more than a dozen players within seconds]]. |
| 163 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SWsns9U44A Perfectly Criminal]]'', as its name suggests, shows one of Dslyecxi's most successful rounds of ''The Game''. He kills one target after the other in increasingly impressive ways, at one point even managing to kill a player (Cypher) who was backed up by the entire police force, and convincing the cops to back ''him'' now. They all converge on his very last target, [=CraneSong=] -- a [[NewMeat pFNG]] -- [[spoiler:who promptly beats him at his own game]]. |
| 164 | * DisguisedHostageGambit: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWumSTfkT8U Sit With Me]]'', Dslyecxi slowly exchanges his clothes with the hostages that he is protecting against an enemy rescue raid. [[ManipulativeBastard He then orders the hostages to stand in a window]], to try and get the enemy to shoot at them. |
| 165 | * DistractedFromDeath: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT_oTESdVYg Can't Touch This]]'', Dsylecxi needs to make two trips to evacuate the handful of survivors from an entire platoon that has been whittled down during a huge firefight. On the first trip, one of the guys takes a hit or two and dies, and nobody notices until they get to safety and are jumping out of the helicopter, at which point they notice how the dead guy is slumped over and not getting off the helicopter. |
| 166 | * DontCallMeSir: ''[=ShackTac=]'' players may operate like a well-oiled machine, but they are just players coming to have fun. As such, it is highly unusual (and possibly even discouraged) to hear someone calling their leader "Sir" under any circumstances - unless it's a deliberate joke. |
| 167 | ** This (slightly abridged) conversation from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j97OO4N0Zik Closing Out]]'': |
| 168 | ---> '''Bravo [=SL=]:''' We're going to be assisting Delta on the Forbidden Village.\ |
| 169 | '''[=SharksForArms=]:''' Yes, sir.\ |
| 170 | '''Bravo SL:''' Ok, we're going to go One left, Two right. Gonna push directly towards "Bravo Clear".\ |
| 171 | '''[=SharksForArms=]:''' Two copies, ''sir''.\ |
| 172 | '''Bravo SL:''' Please don't call me "Sir". Two, take it direct west, please.\ |
| 173 | '''[=SharksForArms=]:''' Yes, ''ma'am''. |
| 174 | * DressingAsTheEnemy: Very rare (and actually impossible before ''[=ArmA 3=]''), but always awesome when performed. It is actually discouraged under normal circumstances, for a variety of reasons (not least being that this will likely get you killed [[FriendOrFoe by your own team]]). There are, however, several cases where it was justified and put to good use. |
| 175 | ** Dslyecxi does this at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sil78cF7Euc Redcon]]'', with an enemy ''vehicle'' of all things. Once [=BLUFOR=] (the enemy) leave the combat area with their convoy, Dslyecxi takes one of the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMC]] vehicles they had left behind. With [=SlappyMoose=] in the back seat, they head off in pursuit of the enemy. [=BLUFOR=], believing them to be their [=PMC=] stragglers, actually let them go right past a checkpoint, whereupon the two insurgents reach the [=BLUFOR=] staging area and carry out a deadly SuicideAttack. |
| 176 | ** Taconic tries a variant of this in desperation at one point in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi5rNWMsGlE Push Comes to Shove]]''. Taconic is fleeing at night from a large squad, trying to avoid being taken captive. Towards the end he tries to hide out in a swamp, and the team hunting him have their flashlights on as they look for him. Realizing he's probably about to be spotted, Taconic turns on his own flashlight, comes out of his hiding spot, and walks around normally, pretending to be a member of the search squad. It works, [[spoiler:but unfortunately all it does is buy Taconic a little time.]] |
| 177 | * DrivesLikeCrazy: |
| 178 | ** At the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYPyFbObkXo Company of pFNGs]]'', Beagle arrives in an Mi-8 helicopter to evacuate what remains of Dslyecxi's platoon. As they egress, an enemy anti-aircraft gun opens up on the helo, threatening to shoot it down. Dslyecxi orders Beagle to dive, which Beagle does - [[spoiler:and then fails to pull out and crashes the helicopter into a hillside. Strangely, most of the men survive]]. |
| 179 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Absolute Madness]]'' Silence takes over as driver of the Jackal carrying the survivors from Alpha. He is ordered to go south along the road, but mishears the order, misses the road, and drives the vehicle straight into the jungle. In his attempt to drive back out of it he keeps grazing trees left and right, injuring his passengers and himself repeatedly, and finally drives the vehicle right into an ambush. |
| 180 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' Worst Uber ever! |
| 181 | * EpicHail: Delta squad in Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMvrNt_Vwoc Operation OnStar]]'' make their way towards Alpha and a pair of Bradleys, when they suddenly observe a vehicle exploding on the ridgeline ahead, in Alpha's general direction. The members of Delta then wonder aloud whether that might be [[GondorCallsForAid Alpha calling for aid]]. |
| 182 | * EveryCarIsAPinto: Due to quirks in the ''[=ArmA=]'' game engine, vehicles may explode even if hit with weapons that shouldn't cause them to explode, or even due to simple collision damage. This is more apparent in [=ArmA 2=] videos, especially when driving cars into small rocks. The variety of ways this has come into play in [=ShackTac=] videos ranges from face-palming accidents to full-blown moments of awesome. |
| 183 | ** In Taconic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi5rNWMsGlE Push Comes to Shove]]'', while he is desperately attempting to evade a whole platoon of enemies on his tail, an enemy truck suddenly stumbles upon Taconic and begins to pursue. He turns around and empties a magazine into the side of the truck, which explodes spectacularly behind him. [[note]]The truck was a Russian [=KAMAZ=] with exposed fuel tanks on its side, which is what Taconic was generally shooting at. The explosion was probably a result of a lucky hit to the fuel tank - although [=ArmA=] is not known for having that precise of a damage model.[[/note]] |
| 184 | ---> '''[=YouTube=] comment:''' That truck must have thought it was in an 80's movie. |
| 185 | ** Aircraft in ''[=ArmA=]'' are particularly prone to this, as painfully demonstrated in Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDUwOd2y3NY&t=0s Now Boarding!]]''. The second plane trying to take off from the runway appears to graze a large pile of hay with the very tip of its wing, and is instantly destroyed along with all passengers. |
| 186 | * ExclusiveEnemyEquipment: Since the fighting forces are rarely equipped the same way, searching enemy bodies can yield some very special equipment not previously available to your side. However, this usually applies only to support equipment, not weapons. Picking up enemy weapons, as cool as they might be, is a good way to get yourself killed by friendly fire. |
| 187 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGTIeUcdnt8 Oh Taliban]]'', Dslyecxi manages to acquire a pair of thermal binoculars from the corpses of an enemy observation team he had slaughtered, which later allows his fireteam to flank and destroy yet another enemy group. |
| 188 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ed96GR7Hs An Interesting Round of Dark Business]]'', [=CHKilroy=] is desperately trying to make contact with [=BLUFOR=] in the hopes that they can rescue him from being executed by [=OPFOR=]. When he hears an [=M-249 SAW=] firing in the distance, he naturally drives straight towards it -- [[spoiler: only to run into Dslyecxi, an [=OPFOR=] operative, who had killed several [=BLUFOR=] men and taken their weapons and night-vision gear. Whoopsie!]] |
| 189 | * FailedASpotCheck: Shackers are only human, and can often develop a sort of tunnel vision that makes them miss seemingly obvious things. Some more notable examples include: |
| 190 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-CFbrUF3o The Con]]'', Taconic gets distracted while talking on his radio, and fails to see an entire enemy fire team dead ahead of him and only a few meters away. For several seconds after they're visible he continues talking on his radio until he finally sees them and tries to throw himself to the ground and get to cover. By then, however, it's too late. |
| 191 | ** Most of the videos where Dsylecxi wipes out or does significant damage to a fire team or squad, although often [[CallThatAFormation a bad formation]] or [[NewMeat inexperience]] is equally to blame when it's a group of [=pFNGs=], as in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Ib5rK_OGg And That's Why You Have 360]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyNkpCVMvl8 Ninja pFNG Attack]]''. In videos like ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umE00iULDG0 Dslyecxi on the Hunt]]'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY8x8OJspN0 Making Lemonade]]'', and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXBELY_6je4 Look Around You]]'' Dslyecxi successfully either stalks or flanks his enemies while being incredibly close to them, in situations where it seems like any turn of the head or simply not looking ahead to the point of ignoring everything else would give him away. In the last of those videos, ''[[RefugeInAudacity Dslyecxi even runs in formation]]'' with his enemies and they don't notice! |
| 192 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPUlFyLZ_uA The Two Towers]]'' has a pretty forgivable case. For just a couple of seconds around 4:35 into the vid, an enemy squad can be seen running among the trees on a distant hillside, looking to flank Dslyecxi's squad. Dslyecxi and company have their focus on the movement of a different enemy squad, however. Just about two minutes after failing to see the group flanking them, the enemy start their attack in earnest from both sides, and Dslyecxi and his squad are annihilated in short order. |
| 193 | ** The first thing that happens after Dslyecxi ends his introductory narration for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_-THUKzac8 Against All Odds]]'' is a BLUFOR player literally running straight into a prone Apollo, (an OPFOR player) and not noticing due to the darkness and terrain. Later in the video a different BLUFOR player runs around the area where Beagle and Apollo have taken cover several times, passing within a few meters, without ever noticing, and later still Beagle manages to shadow a BLUFOR squad and during one sequence is almost close enough to touch the guys he's following, and they don't see him. Beagle hesitates a little too long to spring an ambush on them however, and when he tries to shadow them once more he finally gets spotted and is almost immediately killed. There's still one more moment in the video, however, as Apollo basically runs right up to a BLUFOR agent, who apparently either doesn't see him or doesn't register that Apollo isn't on his side due to the darkness. After a few seconds, Apollo ventilates the BLUFOR guy appropriately. |
| 194 | ** Late in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V-3CsA42eE Bushwackin']]'' Dslyecxi is only half concealed at the very most by a bush he has taken cover in, yet at least two different fireteams of enemies manage to miss him as he calmly stays there and picks them off one or two at a time while they try to take a couple of buildings that the rest of his team are sheltering in. One guy passes within, at most, two meters away and Dslyecxi is mostly exposed, but he still goes unnoticed. |
| 195 | ** This is the sole point of Dslyecxi's video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW4NsIk10Lc Wanna see a Magic Act?]]''. Dslyecxi and the rest of the squad are running along a completely open road, when all of a sudden they are confronted by an enemy squad that appears fifty meters ahead on the road, seemingly out of nowhere. Just another [=ArmA=] glitch? No, upon closer examination it turns out that [[spoiler: the color of the background and the color of the enemy uniforms, as well as the contour and shape of the road itself, helped conceal an entire enemy unit running in plain view in the opposite direction]]. |
| 196 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CcHF0YR1lM War is Kinda Funny]]'' has a [=pFNG=] who not only manages to completely miss an enemy standing only feet off to the side from him, he also studiously ignores Dylyecxi's attempts to warn him about the danger he's in. [[TooDumbToLive This ends predictably]]. |
| 197 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' ''[As he sees the [=pFNG=] about to run right past where an enemy Russian has taken position]'' Bad guy! Bad guy! ''[[=pFNG=] ignores this, runs right past the Russian without looking around and into the street where he's directly in the Russian's line of fire]'' Don't stand there! Don't stand the- ''[Russian finally fires, instantly killing the [=pFNG=]]'' |
| 198 | * FakeActionPrologue: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN0jFbb_Wdc Osprey Ferryman]]'' begins with a shot of an Osprey attempting to land in the middle of a hot [=LZ=], taking fire from all sides. The video itself, while it is about Ospreys, does not have anything even remotely as exciting. Note however that Dslyecxi [[LampshadeHanging did put a very clear warning on the screen]], to ensure that everyone understands this before they watch the rest of the video. |
| 199 | * FakeOutFadeOut: |
| 200 | ** Used in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLiGoqXKz1M Nomads]]''. Dslyecxi ends the video about 2/3 of the way in, after the second objective has been captured. However, instead of the video actually ending, it takes a [[NightmareFuel sudden swerve into horror territory]]. |
| 201 | ** Similarly, in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCMKN6pA8o From Russia With Love]]'', Dslyecxi and his team have spent a whole mission watching a captured American pilot. After all of the pilot's would be rescuers have been killed, they tell the pilot he's free to go and Dslyecxi's usual end of video graphics play... and then the video returns to the action as Dslyecxi and the other Russians chase the pilot down, march him up to a cliff, form a firing squad, then shoot the pilot and let his body fall into the sea. ''Damn''. |
| 202 | * FakinMacGuffin: |
| 203 | ** Attempted by Beagle's [=IND=] force in one round of ''Dark Business''. Instead of handing off the two hostages, Beagle swaps one of them for Taconic - a member of his own team. [=CHKilroy=]'s perspective of this mission is appropriately named ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR_q-clYZNI The Ol' Texas Swap]]''. |
| 204 | * FearlessFool: Not only has [=Kevb0=] never met a charge that he didn't like, he generally seems to completely disdain the usual precautions one should take in a military simulator, especially a fairly realistic one like ''ARMA''. It's common to see [=Kevb0=] declining to use cover and instead standing right out in the open for instance, where an enemy could easily see and kill him, and he has in fact been caught and killed doing that in multiple cases. (About half of the Youtube comments from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cbWWE45vZ4 Dodging This]]'' aren't about Dslyecxi's incredible feat of dodging machine gun fire, it's about the fact that he managed to keep [=Kevb0=] from getting killed by that same machine gun while standing out in the open.) Close quarters combat isn't really any better; ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnfsOfqg51k Clearing With Kevb0]]'', for example, shows [=Kevb0=] taking risks like staying dangerously close to areas where he just threw a grenade, hanging out near open doorways while enemies shoot at him from inside the room, or stepping into a room where he knows Dslyecxi is clearing out enemies without giving Dslyecxi any warning that he's stepping into the line of fire. The last one brings him incredibly close to eating a bullet. You can't deny [=Kevb0's=] courage, but you can say a ''lot'' about the wisdom of his tactics. |
| 205 | * FieldPromotion: When commanders die during a mission, others need to assume their position in order to maintain a working chain of command. Usually, whenever a leader of any element dies, the next most senior commander in that element will take over. Most people standing in line to "inherit" command are ready for that eventuality and can take over without issue, though command occasionally falls down to people who do not have the necessary experience. Another complication may be to locate the body of the fallen commander and retrieve the "148" radio (or "152" in ''[=ArmA 3=]''), which may or may not be impossible at the time. |
| 206 | * FirstPersonPerspective: The vast majority of [=ShackTac=] videos are this, since the group mostly plays ''[=ArmA=]'' and occasionally other {{First Person Shooter}}s. We can hear everything that the player we're watching says, too, so he will occasionally "speak to himself" even when no one else in-game is there to hear it, as a way of conveying his thoughts directly to us (the people who'll watch the footage). |
| 207 | ** Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcnLq3_Tix8 Stay Awhile and Listen]]'' is a video of a mission where Dslyecxi was alone and almost totally silent for 25 minutes. Instead of having us watch in silence, he added post-game narration to explain what he is doing at every point, and what is going through his head. |
| 208 | * ForTheEvulz[=/=]ItAmusedMe: Dslyecxi has been known to do this from time to time. |
| 209 | ** At least in the past, he would sometimes pop into missions where the Shackers were facing off against the AI and... "test" them, particularly with [=pFNG=] sessions. Very often Dslyecxi would wreak havoc on the other players who were taking it easy or thought that they weren't in any particular danger due to only fighting AI and/or thinking there were no enemies in the area. |
| 210 | ** Everyone remembers [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tf3ArH8ZNI Dsylecxi's infamous interrogation of John]], but what's not always remembered is that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBz9q8syvBg John was the last player up on his team, and the match ended the moment Dslyecxi finally stopped toying with John and killed him]]. So everything before that was at best Dslyecxi being a TricksterMentor to John and making sure he'd remember this lesson, at worst it was just having a bit of sadistic fun with the newcomer, because the information Dslyecxi gained served no purpose whatsoever. Even Dslyecxi acknowledged that the situation was kind of messed up in a typed comment after it was all over. |
| 211 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' [[ImGoingToHellForThis oh my god i am going to hell]]. |
| 212 | ** In a clip from a video that was never made public but did show up in Dslyecxi's [[https://youtu.be/3Z8r23QSv7c?t=34m 2016 Year in Review]], during a game session problems with the game scripts required Dslyecxi to exit the game and to manually run the mission as a Game Master so that everyone else could continue playing. He ends his role as an active player in the mission by [[ShootTheDog getting a tearful and distraught Ghostboots to put him down, Old Yeller style]]. This devastates Ghostboots, and as Dslyecxi says in a youtube comment describing the whole incident: |
| 213 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' I mean, I didn't '''have''' to have him kill me. I could've just respawned. Wouldn't have been as traumatic for him, though, y'know? |
| 214 | * FrontlineGeneral: [=Kevb0=]'s command style is to put himself with the team in the greatest amount of danger, and then stand up in the open to observe enemy movements with his binoculars. When it's time to charge, [=Kevb0=] will be at the very point of the element, breaching buildings and suing for contact - sometimes even if he is ''[[RiskingTheKing Platoon Command]]''. If [=Kevb0=] makes it alive to the end of the mission, the other players will usually express their surprise. |
| 215 | --> '''Everyone, at one point or another:''' [=Kevb0=]'s dead. |
| 216 | * GenreSavvy: Meta-gaming is heavily discouraged, if not punished. This mostly applies to exploiting GoodBadBugs, or any other exploitation of ''[=ArmA=]'''s quirks. Nonetheless, it is quite alright to utilize your knowledge about the other players. This is why anyone who becomes extremely wary when told to guard Dslyecxi is being Genre Savvy (although that won't save them when Dslyecxi makes his move). |
| 217 | ** From ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PKPX-f2j4w Know Your Surroundings]]'': |
| 218 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' You guys need to relax. There's one of me, and there's, like, many of you.\ |
| 219 | '''IND Guard:''' Yeah, there's one of you, but it only takes one of you to kill everyone. |
| 220 | ** Being Genre Savvy is almost a requirement in order to win ''The Game''. |
| 221 | * GoodBadBugs: In Universe. In [=ShackTac=], a bug isn't usually seen as "Good" if it has beneficial results (in fact players are discouraged from exploiting bugs to their advantage); But it is ''definitely'' good if the results are entertaining. The more people die in a bizarre and amusing way, the better. And ''[=ArmA=]'' has a very wide variety of lethal bugs. |
| 222 | ** [[Administrivia/SeenItAMillionTimes Wonky explosion damage]]: |
| 223 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFpZPmF-YKk Hello Blast Damage, My Old Friend]]'' |
| 224 | ** Wonky vehicle physics: |
| 225 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvQSuxZjnbc Tanking It to the Next Level]]'' |
| 226 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2z1Mff41sY Never Go Full Retard]]'' |
| 227 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrhpd5KhI-o Very Successfully Preparing a Position]]'' |
| 228 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcgUzEDikZ4 Technically a Flip]]'' |
| 229 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZKyPQbTqw Sky Miles]]'' |
| 230 | ** Wonky building physics: |
| 231 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrPl2PhqYvE Strongpoint Giggles]]'' |
| 232 | ** Respawning explosives: |
| 233 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W69u-fpY6Bk A Front Row Seat to the Massacre]]'' |
| 234 | ** Invincible enemies: |
| 235 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kK6D0-tA0 Boss Battle]]'' |
| 236 | ** Schrodinger's helicopter engine: |
| 237 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPc7RszIdD4 Everything is Fine]]'' |
| 238 | ** Phase-shifting stairs: |
| 239 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tafFXztIPU Oil Rigged]]'' |
| 240 | ** Animals opening doors: |
| 241 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ueNBY_v12M Lil' Buddy]]'' |
| 242 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLVgiFmLsBg Bunny]]'' |
| 243 | ** Deadly resupply crates: |
| 244 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpdQ41lFa10 Crate Times were Had]]'' |
| 245 | ** And many, many more... |
| 246 | * GoingToSeeTheElephant: At some point during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'', the two Independents escorting Dslyecxi realize that the briefcase is probably a RedHerring, but they decide to keep looking for it [[InfectiousEnthusiasm because the journey would be fun in its own right]]. [[spoiler: The "journey" ends up killing both of them]]. |
| 247 | * [[GoodCopBadCop Bad Cop]]: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CIy7EaRfdA SHACKCOPS]]'' |
| 248 | * GoodLuckCharm: In early 2016, Ghostboots claimed he was this to Dslyecxi, or possibly the other way around. He claimed that whenever the two men are together in the same unit, and Dslyecxi is the leader of that unit, then Ghostboots cannot die unless Dslyecxi dies first. This streak of luck seemed to last for nearly half a year's worth of videos after that initial proclamation - and appeared capable of deflecting even direct jinxes on the unit (which, in [=ShackTac=], are considered very SeriousBusiness). |
| 249 | * TheGrotesque: Much has been said about [=kevb0=]'s horrifying in-game face, although it truly hides the hero Shack Tactical deserves. |
| 250 | * HellishCopter: Since ''[=ArmA=]'' has fairly good modeling of helicopters and their flight characteristics, this does not often occur in a contrived fashion as it does in Hollywood movies. Nonetheless, the extremely dangerous combat environment, coupled with the fact that ''most'' Shacker pilots are at best skilled amateurs, helicopters do get shot down all the time, whether they are player- or AI-controlled. |
| 251 | ** The occasional glitch makes it all so much worse, as seen in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR3I124srl4 Who's the Boss?]]'' |
| 252 | ** The primary exception is, of course, Dslyecxi - a master helicopter pilot. In the very few instances where he actually gets shot down, it usually means that [[SacrificialLion the situation was really that bad]]. |
| 253 | ** Dslyecxi and Ghostboots are on the receiving end of this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE4NCH8aLoY That's NOT What I Meant]]''. Near the end of the video, Dslyecxi suggests a landing zone for the extraction helicopters in a small courtyard between some buildings. The first chopper comes in, [[spoiler: and its rotor just barely clips a building, causing the helicopter to explode and kill almost everyone in the vicinity - nearly a full squad]]. |
| 254 | --->'''Ghostboots:''' [=NOOOOOO=]--!!! [[spoiler: *Boom*]] |
| 255 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwu5Av3iyuc Hip Shooting]]'' Dslyecxi shoots down three different Russian helicopters, ([[DontExplainTheJoke which are called "Hips" by NATO countries]]) and each time it winds up coming back to bite him. The first time he shoots at the helicopter and apparently [[SnipingTheCockpit kills the pilot]]... only for the helicopter to crash very close to him and nearly kill him. With the second helicopter Dslyecxi gets injured by the backblast from his own RPG. (And possibly a shot from the Hip's door gunner.) The last time, Dslyecxi fires on the Hip, and appears to wound or kill the pilot again, but as the copter is coming down [[TakingYouWithMe the door gunner focuses fire solely on Dslyecxi]], inflicting multiple lethal wounds. After Dslyecxi finally dies from the wounds he sustained, the other Shackers voice surprise at both how many times he was hit, and what an enormous blood smear was left behind as a result. |
| 256 | -->'''Dslyecxi:''' ''[as he sees the first helicopter about to crash right next to him after shooting it]'' Oh boy, I regret that. ''[helicopter crashes, Dslyecxi is knocked unconscious]'' |
| 257 | * HopeSpot: |
| 258 | ** Tends to happen at the end of the mission, if the survivors believe that they can finish their mission / escape the area despite everything else. Expect a DiabolusExMachina to show up and annihilate them, instead. |
| 259 | ** There's one at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC01NnL2k-8 Friendlies in Cherno?]]''. After hours of fighting and with both platoons whittled down to very few survivors, several attempts are made to destroy the objective - a radar tower. On the first attempt, satchel charges are placed around the tower, but the Shackers carrying the detonators get killed. One of the other guys makes it up to the tower and tries to scrounge up more charges from the dead bodies, but he gets killed too. Finally, Taconic and Dallas -- the only two remaining survivors out of the hundred people that went into the mission -- find a disabled enemy [=SPG=] Technical parked on a hillside in ''perfect'' view of the tower... [[spoiler: but the SPG refuses to shoot, and as they take cover behind the vehicle from a hail of incoming enemy fire, the vehicle finally explodes and kills them both]]. |
| 260 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNFPbX7njO4&t=3051s Make Them Pay]]'', Sephith and [=CraneSong=] are the two remaining players in Charlie squad, surrounded inside a large building within an enemy-infested compound, with at least one enemy T-55 tank patrolling outside. They resolve to make their escape, and do manage to get out of the building while covering each other and shooting enemies left and right. They find a gap in the wall only a few meters from the corner of the building, and decide to make a run for it. [[spoiler: As soon as they run out of that corner, the T-55 fires a shell at them through a window of the same building, instantly killing them both]]. |
| 261 | ** In [=CraneSong's=] ''[[https://youtu.be/pdVRe6ZMPGM?t=15m55s Hot Mike]]'' after a group consisting of Crane, Cappy, Ghostboots and Dslyecxi are trapped in a building surrounded by enemy troops and armor, they come up with a desperate plan to make a run for it. They start to exit the building... and Dslyecxi is immediately killed by a rocket to the face, leaving Cappy and Ghostboots in a panic, but Crane tries to escape along the planned route and briefly seems ready to miraculously break past the troops and maybe make it clear. Unfortunately she's spotted, and has to deal with navigating around a tank and an enemy soldier trading fire with her. It slows her down enough for her pursuers to catch up to her and kill her. |
| 262 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Dslyecxi is usually the one responsible for terrifying the s*** out of unsuspecting players, but in a few of the zombie missions (''[=DayZ=]'' and ''[=S.H.A.C.K.E.R=]''), even Dslyecxi gets audibly stressed. |
| 263 | * HostageForMacGuffin: The premise of the ''Dark Business'' mission, which makes for many of the most beloved videos over the years. In this scenario, [=INDFOR=] (the Independents) are in possession of two men they had captured, which [=OPFOR=] (the Russians) would very much like to get their hands on. [=OPFOR=] agrees to trade an ammo truck for the two hostages, so the team leaders set up a meeting to do a trade-swap. Of course, each side is very much interested in keeping ''both'' the ammo truck ''and'' the hostages (constituting a "major victory" for them), which means that the swap ''rarely'' goes smoothly. [[note]]Additionally, this mission is called ''Dark Business'' because the swap takes place under cover of darkness. Oh, and there is also a tiny but very-well-equipped group of [=BLUFOR=] (American) airborne special forces in the area, which is going to attempt to rescue the hostages unharmed...[[/note]] |
| 264 | * HostageSituation: One occurs during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh0TmS_JKo4 A Hostage Situation]]'', because [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin of course it does]]. Negotiations don't go very well, and eventually it comes down to [[spoiler:the pilot of the rescue helicopter having to land his aircraft and kill the last barricaded hostile himself]]. |
| 265 | * TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: In the short video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYE6xW4ZKOI Oh No, An Ambush!]]'', Dslyecxi realizes that a group of four players are stalking him. After dodging their initial attempt to kill him, (during which they briefly lose track of him) he turns the tables, flanks them, and cuts them down. By the end of the video Dslyecxi is seriously wounded but all four of his attackers are dead and probably wondering how it was possible for things to go so wrong. |
| 266 | * HurricaneOfPuns: [=ShackTac=] members like to indulge in the occasional pun, and Dslyecxi has hinted that having a sense for puns is a factor in determining veterancy and rank within the group. Once in a while, when the situation is ripe for it, several players will burst into a Hurricane that can last at least several minutes. Expect the [=YouTube=] comments to continue the hurricane for several days afterwards. |
| 267 | * ImNotAHeroIm: Dslyecxi uses this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqxRG8yZdcs Two Bullets Away]]''. As he and Mally are escaping on foot from a large pursuing force, Dslyecxi turns around, drops, and starts firing at the enemy, telling Mally to keep moving. |
| 268 | --> '''Mally:''' I'm not leaving you, not after all this!\ |
| 269 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Look, I'm not being heroic, just practical. You gotta go. |
| 270 | * ImpendingDoomPOV: Any video from Dslyecxi's perspective in an adversarial game is this; a point-of-view shot through the eyes of the person who is likely going to stalk and kill quite a few people. |
| 271 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXBELY_6je4 Look Around You]]''. Dslyecxi spots a fireteam of enemy paratroopers dropping from a biplane into a little forest, and decides to go in there and kill them. In the thick foliage, he nails one in the head, and then [[spoiler: shadows the rest of the enemy unit for several minutes, at one point ''running in formation with them across an open field''. This goes on until one of them finally spots him, at which point it's already too late. In total, he kills five of them all by himself]]. |
| 272 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsOO57o7gk Silent Night]]'' is another good example of Dslyecxi stalking and killing enemies one by one, like some sort of hunting spider. Most of victims are shot in the head, at very close range, without them ever knowing Dslyecxi was there. This video showcases copious use of shadows to make silent observation, as well as highly deliberate maneuvers around the enemy, punctuated by sudden and deadly precision strikes. When coupled with the already creepy atmosphere of frozen Namalsk, ''in the dead of a moonlit night'', you have a MookHorrorShow. |
| 273 | ** The trope is even more in effect if the video is actually the point-of-view of the spectators (people who had died earlier in the mission) looking through Dslyecxi's eyes at the events in real-time, as they unfold. The spectators will usually be heard talking to one another, commenting on what's going on and what they think will happen next. |
| 274 | *** One good example of this is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umE00iULDG0 Dslyecxi on the Hunt]]'', where several [=ShackTac=] members watch Dslyecxi as he closely shadows an entire enemy platoon for more than a dozen minutes, [[spoiler:and ends up killing quite a few of them]]. For bonus points, the other players have no idea that Dslyecxi is even supposed to be there - they believe they're only fighting the AI. [[NightmareFuel He manages to get extremely close]] several times without getting detected. |
| 275 | *** Another is Beagle's video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Ib5rK_OGg And That's Why You Have 360]]'', where Dslyecxi sneaks up on, surprises, and annihilates a group of 4 other players in the space of about one minute -- with the entire spectator channel watching in sympathy. |
| 276 | * ImprobableAimingSkills: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms9IluAnUYo Breaking Baddies]]'', Dslyecxi spots an enemy soldier several hundred meters out from his position - at the ''very edge'' of effective weapon range. Figuring he "might as well", Dslyecxi fires a single literal "long shot" at that enemy, who drops to the ground in response. Dslyecxi takes out his binoculars to check out how his target is reacting to being fired on - only to discover that he had just sniped the soldier dead. |
| 277 | --> '''Dslyecxi:''' Holy shit! |
| 278 | * InfectiousEnthusiasm: |
| 279 | ** When Dslyecxi is excited about something, other players tend to go along, and are usually guaranteed an intense experience as their reward (though it could still get them gruesomely killed). |
| 280 | *** This is how [=SlappyMoose=] got to participate in Dslyecxi's SuicideAttack on the enemy rally point at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sil78cF7Euc Redcon]]''. |
| 281 | *** The reverse happens in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqxRG8yZdcs Two Bullets Away]]''. After an assault on Zargabad goes terribly wrong, Dslyecxi finds himself alone and cornered in a building inside the city, and resolves to make a heroic last stand against the dozens of enemies surrounding his location. That's when the platoon's only other survivor, Mally, gets in contact with him and finally convinces a reluctant Dslyecxi to try to escape the area together. [[spoiler:Together the two not only escape the city, but spend the next half hour or so outrunning and outfighting their pursuers until their allies can finally rescue them in what became one of the best videos of 2015]]. |
| 282 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'' is a story about how Dslyecxi managed to infect his ''enemies'' with enthusiasm. He leads them on a wild goose chase, screwing up their plans and getting them all killed in the process. They seem to have enjoyed every minute of it. |
| 283 | ---> '''[=OrangeSoda=]:''' It's more fun just playing along. |
| 284 | ** [=Kevb0=] tries to do this by [[FrontlineGeneral leading from the front]]. However many of the Shackers are well aware that whatever he is enthusiastically leading them into will likely get [=Kevb0=] killed first, and may get everyone else killed too. Newer players may not yet be aware that this is an eventuality, and so they get swept up into it willingly. |
| 285 | * InternalRetcon: Shackers will sometimes do this to cover up for their numerous war crimes. |
| 286 | ** Dslyecxi makes ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqNHBc0W5fc A Case for Body Cams]]'', when he films [=MGbait=] breaching a church, and quickly blowing away two unarmed criminals hiding inside with shotgun blasts at close range. |
| 287 | ---> '''[=MGbait=]:''' I was going to say the shotgun sucks ass, but goddamn, it is ''sexy'' awesome when you get close. Oh, sorry... ''[=STOP RESISTING ARREST=]!''\ |
| 288 | [Fires another blast into one of the corpses at point-blank range]\ |
| 289 | '''[=MGbait=]:''' Alright, we're good here. |
| 290 | * IntrepidReporter: Kilroy and Beagle in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONaCz7T74cw AAN Evening Report]]'' are reporters covering a battle between American troops and local insurgents. Partway through the fight, they decide to try and get an interview with the insurgent commander, [[TheRoleplayer in an attempt to become famous]] (posthumously or otherwise). |
| 291 | * ItWorksBetterWithBullets: More often resulting from people disarming ''their own weapons'' by mistake, or picking up weapons they think are loaded, but aren't. In the context of ''[=ArmA=]'', such an innocent mistake could have ''very bad'' consequences. |
| 292 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMidDPdxpU Tap Tap in Drip Drip]]'', Dslyecxi's isolated fireteam fends off against an infantry assault backed up by [=BMD=]s, and expends its anti-tank rocket supply. After the fight, they scrounge up two [=RPG=] launchers from the bodies of the enemy infantry they had just killed, and move up to rejoin the rest of the squad. When another pair of [=BMD=]s suddenly shows up, [[spoiler:they discover that they hadn't bothered checking whether the [=RPG=]s they picked up actually had rockets in them]]. |
| 293 | ** Taconic has one such moment in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXHVXcs-xBc Welcome Back to Tanoa]]''. When he takes a grenade launcher from Sixty's dead body, he uses an ''[=ArmA=]'' shortcut that unfortunately also drops all of his rifle ammo. A few minutes later, he suddenly discovers exactly how much he needs those bullets, [[spoiler: when his unit is [[TotalPartyKill surrounded and slaughtered]] by a dozen North Vietnamese soldiers]]. [[UnwinnableByDesign Not that it would've really helped]]. |
| 294 | * IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Accidental trigger pulls are very rare in [=ShackTac=], because [=Shack'ers=] practice virtual gun safety by keeping their trigger finger off their left mouse button - [[SeriousBusiness a very important precaution]]. However the few cases where guns go off accidentally are almost all lethal. This is because the accidental click will usually occur when one player is attempting to interact with another player's ruck, or when giving them first-aid - meaning that the bullet will likely be fired right into that person from point blank range. |
| 295 | * JustEatGilligan: What Dslyecxi thinks they should do with [=EvilScotsman=], instead of having to put up with him. It's all for laughs, of course. |
| 296 | * KilledMidSentence: Happens quite often. It's a fairly reliable way to tell when someone has just died. Will usually be followed by someone else calling worriedly on the radio to ask if the speaker is still alive. |
| 297 | ** A very precise example of this trope, near the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFeU6XWxUrY ShackTac Chakchak Attack]]'': |
| 298 | ---> "Mike two, this is Charlie. I'm the last remaining one in my sq-- [rat-tat-tat]" |
| 299 | ** An out-of-universe moment of this happens in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6hIT3a3WAU The Pizza Incident]]''. Before mission-start, Connorwarman calls his local Domino's to ask them why his pizza hasn't arrived - and puts the Domino's employee on speaker-phone so that everyone can hear. Just as the call goes through, the squad runs into enemies. |
| 300 | ---> '''Connorwarman:''' You know what's even more hilarious? It's that when those rounds started coming in, I just started screaming "Oh shit!", and then abruptly hung up on the guy. So I wonder what he thinks happened. He probably thinks I got robbed, or something. |
| 301 | ** [=CHKilroy's=] description of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLDvLBrr1Sw I'm Sorry, Okay? Please Stop]]'' (a video where after Kilroy hits a tank with a rocket the AI spends the next thirty seconds trying to gun him down with the tank's machine guns until it finally gets Kilroy) mimics this happening, although it doesn't happen in the video itself. |
| 302 | --->'''Kilroy's Video Description:''' Listen, let's just forget it ever happened, okay? Please? This isn't funny anymore. Please stop. Plea— |
| 303 | * KilledOffForReal: In the vast majority of ''[=ArmA=]'' missions, death is permanent - there is no respawning of any kind. Occasionally, if several players had been killed early in the mission, or had died due to some sort of unfair situation or a bug in the game, they will be allowed to "[=JIP=]" (or "Join In Progress") as a new reinforcement unit. The permanence of death promotes more responsible gameplay, and makes for very tense situations. |
| 304 | * KillerCop: Beagle, whenever he is a cop in ''The Game'', has a 99.9% probability of murdering someone in cold blood. He'll come up with excuses, but really [[GenreSavvy he simply believes]] that everyone is guilty, and all deserve to be punished. His preferred method of execution is by incendiary gas can [[note]]especially, burning victims to death inside their own vehicles[[/note]]. |
| 305 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkI65mZP2U Officer Beagle]]'', he is confronted with a crime scene where three civilians have crashed their cars near an intersection. He guns one of them down (a rare justified killing), and then proposes to determine whether the remaining two are also guilty by putting a gas can between them and lighting it on fire, reasoning that [[MortonsFork if either of them survives]], they must be innocent. When the two civilians object, he arrests them, puts them in his car, and [[CrossesTheLineTwice drives the car right into a river]] - whereupon the car explodes, killing one of them. |
| 306 | ---> '''Officer Beagle:''' I think we can call that a conclusive trial. |
| 307 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CIy7EaRfdA SHACKCOPS 2]]'', he orders Forgotten to put his gun down and get out of his car. When Forgotten is unable to do either of these things due to a [[GoodBadBugs weird random glitch in [=ArmA=]]], Beagle decides to "motivate" him to exit the car by placing a gas can ''under'' the car and setting it on fire. |
| 308 | ---> '''Forgotten (while burning alive):''' You bastard! I knew this was going to happen!\ |
| 309 | '''Beagle:''' [[MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere Nothing's happening. Just calm down, sir.]] |
| 310 | ** Taken to a new level in Kilroy's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1RMpL1KtMQ To Protect and Serve]]'', where Kilroy and an entire squad of cops are actively hunting down and killing civilians with little to no reason. The end of the video includes repeatedly tormenting one civilian by setting off flashbangs and tear gas grenades in his face, then they have that guy face off with another civilian and tell the two men to draw on the count of three. When they do, both men are gunned down by the cops before they can even fire. The cops then laugh, shoot the bodies a few extra times to [[MakeSureHesDead make sure they're dead]], then go off to find more civilians. |
| 311 | * KillerGameMaster: |
| 312 | ** Awo. Though he does not serve as Game Master very often, you'll know when he does: the mission will contain so many enemies as to be utterly unwinnable. |
| 313 | *** Demonstrated in under 2 minutes in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4x5LImY9pk An Easy Awo Mission]]''. [[spoiler: The server crashes on loading the mission because there are just too many enemies on the map for it to handle.]] |
| 314 | *** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGA2qLAugA Conventional Suffering]]'' is a good example, even though the guys managed to get surprisingly far before being annihilated by a multitude of enemy armor. |
| 315 | *** Dslyecxi [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkD2hNHHgc Quiet Woodland Walk]]'': |
| 316 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' Awoihjaweohr [...] is a cool dude and mission-maker with [=ShackTac=]. For those of you who are wondering how to spell such an odd little nick, it's pretty simple. It's actually two words: The first word is spelled S-A-D-I-S-T-I-C, and the second word is B-A-S-T-A-R-D. |
| 317 | ** Dslyecxi in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RUkh5GO1Cg The Best Worst Idea]]'', testing the then-new ''[=ArmA=] 2'' Headless Client AI. On the other hand, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard he had to go through it with everybody else]]. |
| 318 | * KindaBusyHere: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2dATid3qk Pyrrhus, BSL]]'', [=ChrisJSY=] is the only survivor of Alpha Squad, who is stuck at the far end of an enemy-occupied town. He maintains radio contact with Dslyecxi and Bravo Squad, while Dslyecxi cooks up a complicated multi-pronged assault to take that town. As Dslyecxi orders his men to begin the assault, this radio conversation takes place: |
| 319 | --> '''[=ChrisJSY=]:''' Bravo? \ |
| 320 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Go for Bravo.\ |
| 321 | '''[=ChrisJSY=]:''' Enemy infantry, on Alpha 1's position. Multiple. Building.\ |
| 322 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Copy. Can you keep them nice and distracted?\ |
| 323 | [pause]\ |
| 324 | '''[=ChrisJSY=]:''' I'm... hiding in a bush. |
| 325 | * KnowWhenToFoldThem: In Taconic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89o-SowxPPQ No Good Deed...]]'', Taconic and a small fire team with three other members are attempting to rescue a squad of allies who've run into a group of enemy tanks. The odds of the rescue succeeding look bad right from the start; nearly everyone in the squad was badly hurt or worse, they reported multiple tanks around them, which means that Dslyecxi can't fly his littlebird in for fear of getting shot down, so Taconic and crew are looking at trying to go in on foot and then drag or carry the wounded to a safe spot where they can be loaded onto the helicopter. Then Taconic's group encounters and exchanges fire with a tank, which kills two of the four members of the rescue team, but Taconic manages to score a direct hit on the tank. However, as soon as he lowers his anti-tank weapon, Taconic sees a second tank not far from the first. At that point Taconic assesses the odds and wisely calls off the rescue attempt. [[note]]In a comment on the video, Mr. H, who was probably the last one left from the squad that was being rescued, says that he thinks he was killed right around when Taconic first engaged the tank, so not only would any further attempts have gotten Taconic and company killed, there wasn't even anyone to save at that point.[[/note]] |
| 326 | -->'''Taconic:''' [After staring at the second tank for several seconds] This is a lost cause. I hit one, there's still more coming. ... everyone fall back. Fall back. |
| 327 | * LamePunReaction: Many members of Shack Tac over the years have seemed to enjoy puns and word play, (including Dslyexci himself, who is quite a fan) but sometimes someone's attempt at a pun will get universally panned. For example, when missions wrap up, there's usually some kind of comment by the game master about how things went. In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9FjR8oKR8 Beach Slapped]]'', where the Shack Tac crew was utterly wiped out by China's People's Liberation Army (or PLA) the closing comment is "They weren't [=PLAying=] around." This drew a variety of groans, derogatory comments, and literal boos from everyone in the chat. |
| 328 | * LanguageBarrier: Until August 2016, [=ShackTac=] used in-games voice communication which allowed soldiers of different factions (and nationalities) [[AvertedTrope to converse with one another]] and overhear one another freely (within the constraints of the adjustable in-game voice range). Listening to enemies discussing their plans on the other side of a barrier, for example, or taunting the enemy, or confusing enemies by speaking to them -- these were all legitimate tactics that were often seen employed to good or amusing effect.\ |
| 329 | Dslyecxi's video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdweK-syjPs Language Barrier]]'' changed all that, and [=ShackTac=] is now using the "Babel" function of the [=ACRE=] mod to scramble verbal communications between members of different factions. People whose characters shouldn't be able to speak each other's language now hear a weird distorted voice when the other person speaks. All words are incredibly difficult to understand, and even inflection seems to be all but gone from their voices. ''[=ArmA 3=]'''s hand gesturing system is still quite limited, making attempts to circumvent the language barrier difficult as well - as seen in this video. |
| 330 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdweK-syjPs Language Barrier]]'' itself, a team of lightly-armed [=INDependent=]s attempts to make contact with an American infantry platoon. They need to warn [=BLUFOR=] that an [=ICBM=] launcher is located two kilometers West of their position, with the hope of getting a helicopter ride out of the area in return for this information. The only problem is, no one can speak with the Americans. A lot of TranslationByVolume ensues, and it is just as effective as you might think. |
| 331 | *** When combat died down a little, Dslyecxi made a rather effective attempt at working around the Language Barrier. He lined up his men in the direction of the [=ICBM=] and had them all salute, while he flashed his flashlight and fired several shots out in that direction. WordOfGod says that the message was at least partly understood by [=BLUFOR Acting PLT Zeta=], but at that point his platoon could do nothing about it anyway, and shortly afterwards [[RocksFallEveryoneDies the entire force was indeed wiped out]] by DiabolusExMachina. |
| 332 | *** At one point, after much frustration had already been accumulated, [=LoneWolf=] suggests that they could try doing what dogs do when they want you to follow them: Run a short distance away in the direction you want to go, stop, and look back at the human. And indeed, the Babel's voice distortion effect makes communications more similar to the Language Barrier that exists between humans and dogs, rather than between human beings. |
| 333 | * LaserGuidedKarma: |
| 334 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oOv2KBwP_Q BMD Rally, part 1]]''. Derp, manning a [=BMP=] turret on Charlie Vehicle 1, [[FriendOrFoe mistakes the company's ammo truck for an enemy vehicle]], [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace and destroys it]]: |
| 335 | ---> '''Dslyecxi ([=PLT=]):''' [[SurroundedByIdiots Why is it not surprising that it was Charlie Vehicle 1]]? [[YouAreGrounded Tell them they are on ceasefire from here on out]]. Actually, check that. [[TurnInYourBadge Get the gunner out. Find someone else to replace him]]. Furthermore, ''[[SternTeacher Charlie Victor 1 gunner comes to the platoon command vehicle as soon as able]]''.\ |
| 336 | '''Someone on Charlie net:''' No need to worry about that. Charlie Vehicle 1 just got blown to fuck.\ |
| 337 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Copy. Do we have any idea where that came from? Also, P.S., they deserved it. |
| 338 | ** A truly epic example of near-instant and incredibly precise poetic justice in Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWo1AAvczPg Being John Kevbovich]]'', where he is playing a Platoon Medic following [[FrontlineGeneral PLT Kevb0]] around. At one point, when the two find themselves alone and taking cover behind a ruined building, [=Kevb0=] spots a lone enemy soldier (Taconic) retreating across an open field in the distance, in plain view. Despite the fact that they both realize how desperate he must have been to attempt such a retreat, [=Kevb0=] and Dslyecxi mercilessly take pot shots at him to pin him down right in the middle of that field (where he has absolutely nowhere to go and nothing to do about it), while laughing and enjoying themselves thoroughly. Once Taconic is finally dead, Dslyecxi wonders out loud what could drive someone to make such an obviously desperate move.\ |
| 339 | Not two minutes pass before [=Kevb0=] foolishly decides that he and Dslyecxi [[IronicEcho will dash across an open field themselves]], towards a house further up the road. [[spoiler: [=Kevb0=] is shot and killed halfway across the field, and Dslyecxi is left all alone in that house, with the enemy knowing that he's there.]] End of video. |
| 340 | ** In Taconic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDS5XvzvHI FAC Tanoa]]'', [=Chris(CHA)=] is panicked by the chaos of jungle combat, and accidentally guns down [=PLT=] Morgan. Dslyecxi decides that Chris will be punished for this by having to stay behind [[TheBait to distract the enemy]] as the rest of the platoon moves to the extraction point - [[SuicideMission which means certain death]]. In an incredibly unfortunate turn of events, a few minutes later Dslyecxi suddenly finds ''himself'' [[IronicEcho at the very rear end of the platoon]], having to fight off the encroaching [=Vietnamese=] pursuit almost on his own -- until he is finally shot and killed. |
| 341 | *** And in a second and reversed strike of Laser Guided Karma, WordOfGod says that that the replay showed Chris ''didn't'' kill Morgan after all, and that he got into the extraction chopper safe and sound. |
| 342 | * LastStand: In [[PlayerVersusPlayer Adversarial]] mode, the defenders will always designate a location (referred to as the "Alamo") where their final defense will take place - assuming they can even get back to it without being wiped out first. They will generally fight to the death there, and [[PyrrhicVictory will often make the attackers pay dearly]] before the end. Also occurs in a few Cooperative missions featuring a progressive retreat, but these are much rarer. |
| 343 | * LastWords: The group has had some doozies over the years. |
| 344 | ** The best might come from Beagle in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnp-qXV7Kro ShackTac's Last Breath]]'', where he is gunned down literally seconds after casually saying "See you on the other side" to Black Dragon. |
| 345 | ** Taconic does his best to top Beagle in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZMR8QljUT4 Guests]]'', when he is shot and killed immediately after calling out "You can still surrender!" to enemies that are besieging his team. Apparently they weren't inclined to take him up on that offer. |
| 346 | ** Just barely averted in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrYYsDDW9Og Why Did I Say That?]]'' by Mr. H. At the start of the video, when he sees a friendly chopper attempting to shoot down an enemy helicopter, Mr. H cynically predicts that the enemy helicopter will be shot down right on top of them. Less than 2 minutes later the damaged and out of control enemy helicopter does crash pretty much right on top of them, and several members of the group only survive because they were standing in a shallow ditch and so the helicopter rolled over and then past them after smashing into the ground. It's practically a miracle that none of them died, especially the guys in the ditch, since the only reason they were in that ditch was because they were moving from one location to another, so if the helicopter had crashed either a few seconds earlier or later they would not have protected from the crash. |
| 347 | * LuredIntoATrap: Dslyecxi is very good at these, and has utilized a variety of different lures in different situations over the years. |
| 348 | ** Dslyecxi creates himself a DecoyDamsel for this purpose, during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjRhtUKmBKI Speak ONLY When Spoken To]]''. First, he captures and disarms an enemy combatant. Then, [[spoiler: he promises the prisoner that he's not going to be harmed if he does what Dslyecxi says, and instructs him to call the circling [=Mi-8=] helicopter to land near his position to pick him up. The prisoner complies, and when the helo lands, Dslyecxi hits it with a rocket]]. |
| 349 | ** [=BlackDragon=] performs this almost on a whim in Dslyecxi's video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHcqP9NzSlI Oh Schro You Don't...]]''. [=BLUFOR=] (the enemy) complete their objectives and begin to withdraw towards their helicopter pick-up zone, unaware that [=OPFOR=]'s [=MMG=] team (Jive and Dslyecxi) have circled behind them and positioned themselves to cut off the retreat. [[spoiler: [=BlackDragon=] then has the brilliant idea to throw smoke grenades into an open field close to [=BLUFOR=]'s location (and in open view of the [=MMG=]), to make the pick-up helicopter believe that his guys on the ground need emergency extract at that location. When the helicopter lands, [=MMG=] rips it to shreds]]. |
| 350 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'' is a 40-minute-long episode where Dslyecxi does nothing ''but'' this. As a hostage, he lures his captors into one death-trap after another, until they are all dead. And he does this purely by [[IndyPloy improvising as he goes]]. |
| 351 | * MacGuffinPersonReveal: Dslyecxi gets himself rescued in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'' by convincing his captors that the eponymous briefcase is a MacGuffin they desperately need, if they want to win the mission. This [[ManipulativeBastard devious lie]] was meant only to distract them from the fact that he and his friends are the real MacGuffin. |
| 352 | * MadeOfIron: Shack Tac's customized system for treating injuries makes it entirely possible for a single player to not only live through dozens of injuries that would be debilitating in real life, but to also continue to perform on the battlefield all the while. Picking up enough injuries will eventually effect the performance of their character, for example a character might wind up with a limp or be prone to passing out without warning. Since Shack Tac also tends to stick to a policy that a player only gets one life in a mission and once they get killed, they're out, it makes sense that they try to make characters as tough to kill as possible. |
| 353 | * ManipulativeBastard: Almost every member in [=ShackTac=] will end up being this at one point or another, but Dslyecxi again takes the cake for being both relentless and extremely good at it. He will happily manipulate both enemies and friends, for a wide variety of possible reasons. |
| 354 | ** The most elaborate trick Dslyecxi had ever pulled on anyone was ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]''. In this video, Dslyecxi is a rocket scientist captured by a group of independents, in the hope that he can help them launch a [=SCUD=] missile at the capital city. He can't help them, but [[TheChessmaster he knows that they think he can]]. Using this knowledge, he convinces the independents' leadership that he had stashed a silver briefcase somewhere outside their compound, and that it is a necessary component for the launch. He then leads them out to the supposed stash, and straight towards the approaching [=BLUFOR=] platoon coming to rescue him. With one brilliantly-improvised lie after another, he leads his captors into ''every trap possible'' in order to get them gunned down, one at a time, by [=BLUFOR=] -- until not a single one remains. |
| 355 | ** Dslyecxi's finest and most famous example is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tf3ArH8ZNI John's Introduction to ShackTac]]''. In this video, he is an insurgent who has come up on a [=BLUFOR=] unit that's been all but annihilated. The only survivor, a [=pFNG=] named John, is unconscious and wounded. Dslyecxi disarms and then treats him, and retreats into cover before John wakes up. Safely concealed from John, he tells him that he is a friendly survivor, and begins to milk him for information. [[spoiler:Poor John divulges the location of the rest of [=BLUFOR=], before finally figuring out that Dslyecxi might be an enemy. Dslyecxi then shoots him in the face]]. |
| 356 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' [[CatchPhrase Welcome to ShackTac]].\ |
| 357 | [[spoiler:*Rat-tat-tat-tat*]] |
| 358 | ** At the start of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWumSTfkT8U Sit With Me]]'', Dslyecxi is tasked with guarding a pair of hostages, during an assault by a large enemy force that's coming to rescue them. Although he doesn't have clearance to execute the hostages, he pretends to have a radio conversation in order to convince them that he does. Under this threat, he instructs them to exchange their clothes with his, one piece at a time, until [[DisguisedHostageGambit they end up looking like OPFOR soldiers]] and [[DressingAsTheEnemy he ends up looking like a hostage]]. He then instructs them to stand in a window, and fires out of it at the approaching [=BLUFOR=] troops, to try to get [=BLUFOR=] to shoot the hostages. [[spoiler: Although neither of the hostages are killed, Dslyecxi does end up winning the mission thanks to this gambit]]. |
| 359 | * MindScrew: InUniverse. |
| 360 | ** Dslyecxi loves doing this when he is in his special spectator mode, which allows him to film the action without having a physical avatar in the game (but still being able to interact with the other players in some way). |
| 361 | *** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNvs8lU0Lk The Journey of a Thousand Miles]]'', he takes advantage of the fact that his invisible camera has a collision box, to push [=Kevb0=] and others around, to make it look like they're sliding for no apparent reason. |
| 362 | *** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLiGoqXKz1M Nomads]]'', the first 2/3 of the video is a straightforward cinematic view of a commando raid. Just as the players start to wind down from a tough battle, Dslyecxi begins to [[NightmareFuel whisper to them]]. |
| 363 | ** At the start of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0StlYcKs8U HMMWV Shock Force]]'', the entire platoon is driving into the battlefield in a massive vehicle convoy. Then Dslyecxi types this into the chat: |
| 364 | ---> '''Dslyecxi (typing):''' Intel reports that there may be mines, btw. Or possibly [=IEDs=]. They're not quite sure.\ |
| 365 | [Entire convoy becomes skittish and slows down, then completely stops in front of a large field]\ |
| 366 | '''[=HMMWV=] driver:''' Why do i have the feeling we're driving towards a mine field?\ |
| 367 | '''Dslyecxi (to the [=YouTube=] audience):''' What the [=ShackTac=] platoon doesn't know is that I secretly haven't placed any mines or [=IED=]s! I just want them to be paranoid. |
| 368 | ** During the boring waiting period at the start of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MznJk743K00 one mission]], Dslyecxi decided to mess with Jamball by repeatedly changing her in-game avatar's face. Then we learn that from ''her'' perspective, absolutely everyone around her looked like they were wearing Dslyecxi's face. |
| 369 | * MoreDakka: Extremely rare, as conservation of ammo is usually incredibly important. A unit may be ordered to pour some of its ammo on the enemy for a tactical purpose, but this is rare. Then again, sometimes MoreDakka is the solution nonetheless. |
| 370 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-cm8VeNDso John... Rambo?]]'', Dslyecxi fires a machine gun from the hip on full-auto, to try and neutralize several imminent threats to [=LordoftheT=]'s survival. |
| 371 | ** The highlight video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcQJp5EejsA Fuck Those Guys]]'', where Dslyecxi unloads an entire 200-round magazine at an enemy-occupied hill. WordOfGod says it paid off. |
| 372 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Beagle's reaction about eleven minutes into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GdoyykoT14 "Zombies of Zargabad,"]] after using an incendiary grenade on a mob of dozens and dozens of zombies packed in front of a mosque. The end result is a second sun, a chorus of unending screams, a teammate who chooses to fall into the fire, and a hysterically laugh-sobbing Beaglerush. By the end he declares "there's no going back for me" and volunteers to stay behind while other survivors escape. |
| 373 | -->'''Beagle:''' Oh my god... oh my gah-hah-had... what have I done?!\ |
| 374 | '''Jamball:''' (''over radio'') Where are you?\ |
| 375 | '''Beagle:''' ''I'm in hell!'' |
| 376 | * MyNaymeIs: Dslyecxi, which is of course a pun.[[note]]it's how a dyslexic person might spell "dyslexic"[[/note]] Not really [[TheUnpronounceable unpronounceable]] though - the others simply pronounce it "Dis-lexi". |
| 377 | * NewMeat: The technical term is "[=pFNG=]" [[note]]which stands for "potential Fucking-New-Guy" or "pre Fucking-New-Guy"[[/note]]. These are guys who have joined the unit recently (several months in), and still have to get used to both the customized gameplay (thanks to many unique [=ShackTac=] mods) and to all the other tropes listed on this page. |
| 378 | ** New guys are recruited in waves, so shortly after the most recent wave, [=ShackTac=] will run a "[=pFNG=] session", which is a mission or series of missions intended to introduce the new guys in. These missions tend to be very big (give or take 100 people), cooperative missions, which normally involves an infantry offensive against a series of targets. Many will die, but the missions are usually winnable. |
| 379 | ** Shortly after the [=pFNG=] sessions, most [=pFNGs=] will either never be seen again, or [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]]. |
| 380 | ** Getting one's [=pFNGs=] alive to the end of the mission is a mark of honor for the veteran element leaders, up to the point where they might even sacrifice themselves to protect the last one. |
| 381 | *** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAtRdQ2-MzI Strait Shot]]'', and the accompanying video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUVV5r9Tneg Decyphering the Area]]'', Dslyecxi's [=pFNG=], Cypher, actually makes it out alive without the rest of his team! |
| 382 | * NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: |
| 383 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0t4LQesrrU Jumpin' Into It]]'', Delta squad runs out of explosives on the way to the final objective (an artillery battery) that they are tasked with destroying. They ask Dslyecxi, who is the fireteam leader of Alpha 2, to give them some of his team's anti-tank launchers to complete the task, which he grudgingly does. Not a minute after Delta takes off towards their objective, Alpha 2 is set upon by multiple [=BMP=]s, with only one AT rocket to defend themselves.[[note]] And the shot misses.[[/note]] |
| 384 | *** After the [=BMP=]s [[DeusExMachina drive off]], Alpha 2 manages to scrounge up a few more rockets for themselves. But then Delta fails to destroy the artillery, and Alpha 2 has to go up there and hit it with those rockets. [[spoiler: This is when the enemy decides to counter-attack, and destroys Dslyecxi's team]].] |
| 385 | * NonSpecificallyForeign: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZPuPB0OeE SHACKCOPS 3]]'', after having executed two civilians they had pulled over, Beagle's police unit stops Priest, who is playing a nondescript Eurotrash backpacker. |
| 386 | --> '''Beagle:''' Who the ''fuck'' is this? Sir, sir, sir.\ |
| 387 | '''Priest:''' I bring wiener schnitzel from ze Deutschland!\ |
| 388 | '''Beagle:''' ''Sir'', you are ''very'' foreign. You are very foreign, sir. Calm down.\ |
| 389 | '''Priest:''' I come visiting my uncle, officer.\ |
| 390 | '''Beagle:''' Sir, you have long, unkempt hair, you have [[RockMeAsmodeus devil music]] on your shirt, you're wearing a scarf, you have make up on... Sir, your glasses are very feminine. What are you doing here? |
| 391 | * NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Well, most of the time. Shackers do their best to help the wounded, and sometimes even to retrieve their bodies, but [[TruthInTelevision in some situations]] the risk is simply too great, and people do get abandoned. |
| 392 | ** As Dslyecxi cautions, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAOhQm6jryc Mind Where You Fall]]''. |
| 393 | ** One exception to the rule is ''S.H.A.C.K.E.R'', [=ShackTac=]'s flagship zombie mission. There's safety in numbers, but in the end, the group won't stop to help you, especially if they are all being chased by a zombie horde. |
| 394 | ** When Cappy is run over by an enemy vehicle in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Absolute Madness]]'', his medical diagnosis is ''so'' hopeless that the Alpha survivors consider leaving him there to die instead of wasting bandages on him. Nevertheless, they manage to get him into their vehicle and spend a metric ton of bandages trying to stop his bleeding. In the end [[spoiler: he is left to die at the extract point, but only because an enemy vehicle rams the [=UAZ=] he's in so hard that his still-bleeding body mysteriously disappears]]. |
| 395 | *** In the same mission, Alpha [[spoiler: leaves their own rescuers behind to die in the jungle, and are in fact the only unit to make it out of the jungle alive]]. Of course, doing otherwise would have been a guaranteed suicide. |
| 396 | * NoOneShouldSurviveThat: Since this is a video-game, a variety of bugs and glitches can cause this in all sorts of circumstances. And ''[=ArmA=]'' has no lack of bugs and glitches. At other times, it's nothing but sheer f*ing luck. |
| 397 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPal3CDSapk To the Last]]'', Dslyecxi turns around in time to see an [=RPG=] directly hit [=Sixty40=]'s position. When the smoke clears, Sixty is inexplicably fine. |
| 398 | ** An unconventional example in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0StlYcKs8U HMMWV Shock Force]]''. The platoon, in a convoy of light vehicles, drives into an open field and encounters a powerful enemy force, which destroyes nearly all of its vehicles. Dslyecxi drives his surviving [=HMMWV=] around to pick people up and move them forward to safety, but then spots the company [=M113=] armored vehicle sitting in the field, apparently unscathed. This becomes his vehicle for the remainder of the mission. Throughout the rest of the mission we hear many comments from the others about how that [=M113=] should not have survived. |
| 399 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMidDPdxpU Tap Tap in Drip Drip]]'', Dslyecxi and his fireteam are holed up in a building, under attack by [=BMP=]s. Several [=BMP=] cannon shells hit the building, and the top floor violently collapses in a cloud of debris. Dslyecxi looks upstairs at the devastation, and worriedly calls out "Is anyone still upstairs?", expecting no answer. [[spoiler: Then Rspctd comes running around the corner and down the stairs. No explanation on how he survived that.]] |
| 400 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbCCSY57Rk Too Hot to FAC]]'', Dslyecxi finds himself on foot, all alone, on a hill, with several T-72 tanks right on top of his position. Being the [=FAC=] in this mission, he proceeds to call in air support on his own position. As the tanks are hit by the helicopters, Dslyecxi has to also fight off enemy crewmen dismounting and attacking him. He survives all this. |
| 401 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-cm8VeNDso John... Rambo?]]'', despite Dslyecxi's warnings, [=LordoftheT=] rushes rather foolishly across an alleyway guarded by enemy infantry and a [=DShK=] technical. A hail of fire comes his way as he crosses into what seems to be no cover at all on the other side. In a desperate attempt to help him, Dslyecxi sprays the fuck out of the alleyway with his machinegun for what seems like an eternity, and then runs over to check [=LordoftheT=], who's just... fine. |
| 402 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' You are one ''lucky'' motherfucker. |
| 403 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrPl2PhqYvE Strongpoint Giggles]]'', Dslyecxi's team heavily fortifies the building they're defending with sandbags, barbed wire, and concrete barriers. In response, the enemy chooses to [=RPG=] the building, which ultimately comes down on top of the occupants - but due to a weird glitch fails to kill any of them. |
| 404 | ** During ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSRMCQpOf2Q Hell of an Exit]]'' Dslyecxi watches as an [=RPG=] flies towards him, ''passes between his legs'', and explodes only a couple of feet behind him. He survives this. |
| 405 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Absolute Madness]]'' is the story of Dslyecxi, [=Chris(CHA)=] and Ghostboots repeatedly surviving one completely hopeless situation after another for over an hour. Along with [=KnightDefender=], [[spoiler: they end up being the Platoon's only survivors]]. |
| 406 | *** In the same mission, Cappy's accident. |
| 407 | ----> '''[=KnightDefender=]:''' I'm confused as to why he's not dead. There are so many holes in his body.\ |
| 408 | '''Chris(CHA):''' To be fair, they're not holes. He got slammed at full speed by a [=UAZ=].\ |
| 409 | '''Dslyecxi:''' ''Everything'' is broken. |
| 410 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsxFmaAxK9k Cut Off]]'', Dslyecxi takes the initiative in planting some remote-detonated explosives as his squad withdraws from an objective, running away from a chasing BTR. He steals a small [=UAZ=] and stops it a few dozen meters from the objective to jump out and detonate the explosives. As he re-enters the car to drive away with the rest of his squad, the BTR suddenly shows up and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cuts him off]] - but somehow doesn't pepper the crap out of his [=UAZ=]. Driving away frantically, he ends up driving into the advancing enemy lines, but isn't killed in the cross-fire. He quickly turns around and drives back to a friendly position, where friendly fire takes out his [=UAZ=], so he jumps in another one and goes right back out there to link up with his squad. His [=UAZ=] gets shot ''again'', and a freak accident takes out most of his tires. Several enemies overrun his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cut off position]], so he has to fight them while patching himself up and changing the tires. The car still won't go, and the enemy engages him while he's completely out in the open. He defeats those enemies and then runs towards his squad on foot, linking up with them just in time to help them through a "Mass Casualty" situation. [[spoiler: Unfortunately he dies later on]], but surviving that ordeal was nothing short of a miracle. |
| 411 | * NothingIsScarier: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE_9ULvJKNE&t=1s Tight Net]]'' is a Dslyecxi video from one of the ''Caesar Merlin'' missions, where he is playing one of the escaping soldiers. It is around 20 minutes long. At around the 7 minute mark, [[spoiler: he is captured by the Russians]]. The remainder of the video is pretty much nothing but [[spoiler: an eventless jeep ride to the Russians' prisoner collection point]] - which nonetheless manages to be ''incredibly'' intense and nerve-wracking. |
| 412 | * ObfuscatingInsanity: |
| 413 | ** [=CHKilroy=] employs this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwcANrCy8mA Professional Hostage Services, $50/hr]]'', to try to get his captors to drop their guard. [[spoiler:It works]]. |
| 414 | ** He does the same thing again in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaelJPZD-F4 Midnight Speech]]''. [[spoiler:It works again]]. |
| 415 | * OneManArmy: Dslyecxi is dreaded throughout the Shack Tactical community for single handedly killing entire squads of enemy players. |
| 416 | ** Displayed marvelously in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhV0q8KvnwA Way of the Ninja]]''. Dslyecxi is a machine-gunner attempting to take the enemy by surprise in order to delay them. When he is spotted and his assistant killed, Dslyecxi sneaks into concealment and then proceeds to [[spoiler:shadow the enemy team, killing several of them each time, until the remnants of their unit finally manage to kill him almost by chance. The confusion he managed to sow in their ranks, however, lingers on even after he dies: The enemy friendly-fire some of their own, thinking they are him]]. |
| 417 | ** Another example in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOpU7xnWhm0 The Battling Bravo Bastards of Berezniki]]'', where Dslyecxi not only reads the map brilliantly and anticipates the enemy's movements well beforehand, but then goes on to annihilate a squad of enemies (~14 people) pretty much all on his own. |
| 418 | ** The compilation video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZuvRiyIh6c Dslyecxi and his Magic Hacks]]'' is dedicated to showcasing this. It's made up of spectator footage of Dslyecxi being a ninja and killing way more people than should've been possible. |
| 419 | ---> '''Awo:''' You can only kill him by cutting off the head. |
| 420 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY8x8OJspN0 Making Lemonade]]'', Dslyecxi makes a hasty move, which later allows him to [[spoiler: flank and destroy an entire enemy fireteam, solo, before finally being spotted and gunned down]]. |
| 421 | ** ''The very next video'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQS1NOK3eY An Excercise in Patience]]'', has Dslyecxi lead [[spoiler:a much larger but equally effective flanking maneuver]], even though most of his team gets wiped out early on. |
| 422 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88RLF_2egY Blue Thorn]]'', where Dslyecxi's squad flanks the enemy and decimates them. Even though the team does spectacular work themselves, Dslyecxi alone takes out at least a squad of enemies with his uncanny [=GP=] fire. |
| 423 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2uYWeGHg6s Moonlit Granate]]''. While defending a town, Dslyecxi's team gets whittled down and pulls back deeper into the town, leaving him alone inside a building situated directly in the path of the enemy attack. So, he blunts the attack. |
| 424 | ** At the very beginning of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sil78cF7Euc Redcon]]'', Dslyecxi's fireteam stumbles right into an enemy-occupied compound, and within a few dozen seconds Dslyecxi is the only one left alive. He plays a game of cat-and-mouse with the enemy, and eventually clears the compound. He then assaults another compound, clearing it too, and kills several more enemies from its rooftop. Finally, when the enemy complete their mission and drive off, he picks up one of the vehicles they had left behind, chases them right to their exfiltration area, and stages a SuicideAttack in which he kills several of them before being gunned down. [[note]]Muffalopadus and [=SlappyMoose=] participated to some extent in all of this, but the bulk of the work was Dslyecxi operating alone[[/note]] |
| 425 | ** Dslyecxi again, in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsOO57o7gk Silent Night]]''. He spends the entire 26 minutes of this video taking a run through a snowy, dense, moonlit forest, stalking and assassinating the enemy as they try to breach into a friendly-held factory compound. Darting from shadow to shadow and always waiting for the right moment, he manages to kill well more than half a dozen of them, one after another. Most of them with a single bullet to the back of the head. |
| 426 | ** Beagle manages to pull this off in his video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrn7_8a6hSg Last Stand]]'', where he is hiding behind a rock, alone, on an open plateau, with an enemy squad attempting to assault his position along with [=AH-6=] support. By the end of the video, the field in front of him is practically littered with enemy bodies. |
| 427 | ---> '''Beagle (shouting at the enemy):''' Come on then, if you think you're hard enough! |
| 428 | * OnlyMostlyDead: In the ''[=ArmA=] 2'' [=ACE=] mod and ''[=ShackTac=] [=ArmA=] 3'' medical system, getting shot does not always equal death - a player may "pass out", requiring medical attention to bring them back to the fight. The troops must check fallen friendly bodies to see whether they are still alive. |
| 429 | ** Even seemingly serious injuries could be treated in [=ACE=], as seen in [=CHKilroy=]'s video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CcHF0YR1lM War is Kind of Funny]]'', where Hunterhr gets shot repeatedly and keeps being brought back by Dslyecxi. |
| 430 | ** There are multiple moments during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Absolute Madness]]'' where someone gets injured so badly that their medical diagnosis screen shows a whole litany of colorful injury entries to every bodypart. This culminates with Cappy getting run over by an enemy vehicle and being dragged for 25 meters underneath it. In all cases, these hopelessly injured people are saved from death ([[spoiler: or in Cappy's case, could have been saved had the rescuers had more bandages]]). |
| 431 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' There was just a giant bloody smear on the ground where Cappy got hit. |
| 432 | * PerspectiveFlip: Part of the fun of viewing the archive of Shack Tac videos is seeing the same missions from different points of view. Sometimes, in adversarial or multisided missions like "Dark Business" videos, it's practically required to see videos from different sides in order to understand everything that is going on. Other times, videos from different fire teams or squads on the same side will give a better perspective on what's happening. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej_UwDIaWQ8 this video]] from Mr. H shows his attempts to keep his shattered squad from being totally wiped out by tanks, while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89o-SowxPPQ this one]] from Taconic shows his would-be rescuers trying to reach them, but having to give up once half their team is killed and multiple tanks are still in the area. |
| 433 | * PetTheDog: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvz7ziR66SU So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World]]'', (a ''VideoGame/DayZ'' video) a sniper has set up shop and is potshotting at players for no reason other than pad a kill count. (As much as Dslyecxi [[BerserkButton loathes snipers]], it's this exact style of play that drives him completely out of his mind.) Dslyecxi, normally known for being a ManipulativeBastard extraordinaire, is so pissed by this that he starts giving out equipment, guns, and supplies to everyone he runs into, then goes to hunt down the sniper, by now equipped [[WithThisHerring with nothing other than a t-shirt, pants, and a pistol]]. Despite fully intending his bit of sniper hunting to be a SuicideMission, Dslyecxi manages to find the sniper's position, sneak up on him, and kill him. |
| 434 | * PlayerVersusPlayer: Roughly half of all videos released by Shackers on Website/YouTube feature this style of missions (called "Adversarial" missions), as opposed to playing cooperatively against the AI (called "Cooperative" missions). In most Adversarials, one side will be defending a small area of the map (and possibly some important assets or hostages), while the other side will be assaulting them. The defending side generally has around 1/2 as many soldiers as the attacking side, but will have a much better position to use as a force multiplier - giving an overall balanced game that could end with victory for either side. Adversarials tend to be relatively shorter missions (30-60 minutes on average, as opposed to several hours), and feature a much smaller-scale than Cooperatives (a hundred players fighting against each other, as opposed to a hundred players fighting against hundreds of AI soldiers). Heavy assets are also less likely to be used, as they tend to tip the balance too easily to one side. |
| 435 | ** Of course, the most beloved missions in [=ShackTac=] history have generally been the Adversarial missions involving ''three or more'' sides ([=BLUFOR=], [=OPFOR=], and the Independents and/or Hostages), including ''Dark Business'', ''Caesar Merlin'', ''Warmth'', ''Cinder City'', and so on. Three sides offer a wealth of options for alliances, double-dealings, and other unexpected outcomes, often making these missions much more exciting than just "side A vs. side B". |
| 436 | ** Another crowd-favorite Adversarial mission is ''The Game''. In this game mode, which is heavily based on the indie video game ''VideoGame/TheShip'', each participant is assigned another person as their target, and much then seek out and kill that target before the time runs out. If they do, they get a new target and some extra time. The last person alive wins. And to make it more difficult (because ''of course''), some of the players take the role of policemen who patrol the map and try to catch people red-handed as they commit their crimes. |
| 437 | * PoliceAreUseless: During ''The Game'', the police are ostensibly there to stop players from murdering one another. In actuality, they are likely to do one of three things: 1) Needlessly harass people at checkpoints; 2) Help people murder one another; or 3) Murder players. Even when they do try to help, the police are hopelessly understaffed considering the massive size of the map, and players usually have no qualms about killing lone police officers if the opportunity and need arises. |
| 438 | ---> '''Officer Beagle:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C2ykIjT3og We're swimming in the eco-system. We are like park rangers more than policemen.]] |
| 439 | * PoliceBrutality: The cops will occasionally do this during ''The Game'', and are practically ''guaranteed'' to do this if Beagle is their commanding officer. |
| 440 | ** Since they are not allowed to directly shoot any civilians without legal justification, most often they will find a way to indirectly set them on fire. |
| 441 | * PoorCommunicationKills: It doesn't happen often, due to the professional communications, but when it happens you'll know. |
| 442 | ** In [=CHKilroy=]'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwYnZVttfaw Grishino Deploy Assault]]'', what looks like a winning move by [=BLUFOR=] quickly turns into an embarrassing loss due to failure to obey a single, simple command. |
| 443 | ** Beagle attempting to give the go-code in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYT2HwKZQfs Calgon Business]]''. The trouble here is that Beagle had to give the go-code right in front of soldiers from an opposing faction that he had been negotiating with, so it had to be something that might sound legit to them and wouldn't tip them off right away. ("Bring him down", as in, bring the hostage down to be exchanged). Except by the time Beagle actually says the code phrase, he's been negotiating with the other side for long enough that between that and the ambiguous code phrase, Calgon isn't sure that Beagle actually is giving the code or if he's genuinely going through with the exchange. Beagle has to reassure Calgon and give the code phrase several times, raising suspicion among members of the other side. [[spoiler:When Calgon starts making his move, Beagle is quickly gunned down]]. |
| 444 | --->'''Beagle:''' ''[Summing up the sequence of events afterward]'' I'm standing in front of two enemies, and Calgon is like 'Should I steal the truck?' I'm like 'Yes, you should, [[TriggerPhrase bring him down]].' And Calgon's like 'Oh, I should wait because we're bringing the hostage down?' And I'm like 'No, you're misunderstanding me...' |
| 445 | ** This exchange from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfriCBonr0 I've Done a Bad Thing]]'': |
| 446 | --->[Dslyecxi and Taconic are cooped up in a bunker, with enemies potentially all around]\ |
| 447 | '''Dslyecxi:''' See that guy running past, wearing a crewman's gear? It's worth being concerned about. \ |
| 448 | * Taconic shoots and kills the guy he was pointing at* \ |
| 449 | '''Taconic:''' I thought I had killed them all. \ |
| 450 | [[spoiler:Dslyecxi meant that there's reason to be concerned that ''one of their own crewmen'' is running around without his vehicle. Whoops.]] |
| 451 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbCCSY57Rk Too Hot to FAC]]'' features one of these on a massive scale. This is the first time we've seen [=ShackTac=] play as an armored battalion in a co-op mission. From both the transmissions we can hear, as well as the first-hand accounts from Morgan and Tiberian, the battalion and company radio nets were a huge clusterf*ck from the get-go. People weren't even sure which channel they were using. Then [[TheyKilledKennyAgain COY Kevb0 got killed]] on first contact, and from there on the mission only spiraled down into the inevitable disaster that it was. |
| 452 | *** In the same mission, Dslyecxi (playing as [=FAC=]) [[InvertedTrope inverts]] the trope by staying ''so well-communicated'' with his helicopters that he manages to guide them into destroying several enemy tanks right on top of his position - [[NoOneShouldSurviveThat without getting himself killed in the process]]. |
| 453 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw03s89Wics Three POV CAS Strike]]'' shows us what happens when communications between the Forward Air Controller and all of the ground units are not carried out as carefully as they should. [[spoiler: He orders a bomb strike directly on a friendly unit, which gets annihilated]]. |
| 454 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdweK-syjPs Language Barrier]]'' was the first [=ShackTac=] video to utilize the "Babel" feature of the ''[=ACRE=]'' mod, which scrambles the voices of people on different teams in order to simulate a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin language barrier]] (between people who, in real life, speak the same language). This resulted in a great deal of frustration for the Independents, whose job was to convince [=BLUFOR=] to go in a different direction than the one they were heading in. By the time the Independents managed to convey their intent to [=BLUFOR=] to any significant degree, the platoon was already surrounded by enemies. There were no survivors. |
| 455 | ** Dslyecxi's second "hindsight" video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsvBGGxCOHw Airfield Assault]]'' is an in-depth breakdown of how this can happen. Long story shortish, Alpha and Bravo are attacking from two different directions, against an airfield with multiple buildings. Alpha gets bogged down and takes significant casualties early, but due to mix ups on the coms about which buildings are taken and how far Alpha has been able to advance, the two groups fail to assist each other or coordinate properly. (In fact, Bravo even assumes for a long time that a building occupied by enemies is instead occupied by Alpha, and the occasional enemy fire coming at them is actually Alpha trying to support them by shooting past them at other targets. This confusion also spreads through the ranks and throws off both Dslyecxi in his air support helicopter and the FAC.) And on top of that, FAC's attempts to relay messages or clarify what is going on get garbled and turned on their head because Alpha is seldom answering radio calls due to their losses and heavy engagement, so by the time communication is established, messages are no longer relevant or FAC has forgotten exactly what was said and passes messages along incorrectly. The result is a gradually worsening situation that suddenly turns into a disaster, both groups get chewed up with few survivors, and a second platoon needs to come in before the airfield is cleared. |
| 456 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwzMe8waeyg Civil Affairs]]'' ends with a series of seemingly-minor miscommunications that all contributes to several people dying at the very end. For example, he names the pickup zone "Pickup Zone" instead of giving it a more unique name, which confuses some players who thought the pickup zone is where the helicopters have been landing throughout the entire mission. This is further discussed in the "hindsight" video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CC9gmF2re0 Hindsight: Hot Extraction]]''. |
| 457 | * PrivateMilitaryContractors: One of the VideoGame/ArmA factions, used extensively in Shack Tactical. People playing [=PMCs=] tend to role-play them as self-interested and unscrupulous - concerned only with completing their mission, up to and including the murder of civilians if they feel it's necessary. |
| 458 | * PyrrhicVictory: [=ShackTac=] missions rarely end well for anyone involved. If a TotalPartyKill does not occur, it is likely that victory will still come at the cost of the vast majority of the winning side. This is true both during Adversarial and Cooperative missions. Note however that in Cooperative missions it is far less likely that anyone will make it out alive if the number of friendly soldiers drops very low, as a DiabolusExMachina will likely show up to eliminate the survivors quickly, so that a new mission can be started. |
| 459 | ** Dslyecxi named one of his missions ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2dATid3qk Pyrrhus, BSL]]'', in reference to this trope. The victory is indeed Pyrrhic, [[spoiler: as all of the attackers are killed shortly after completing their primary objective]]. |
| 460 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz70YjQcKFA Absolute Madness]]'' ends with only [[spoiler:three men from the original platoon, and one from the ''rescue platoon'' sent to retrieve them]] making it out alive. |
| 461 | * RedHerring: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPjhyOCEOrA The Silver Briefcase]]'' is one, provided by Dslyecxi to his captors in order to get them to take him on a little walk (during which he plans to escape). They take the bait, though it's mostly because [[InfectiousEnthusiasm they know it'll be a fun ride]]. |
| 462 | * RevisedEnding: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsLa-l6GBfM Best Possible Outcome]]'' is a short video where Dslyecxi and company are trying to take a compound and clear out some buildings. It starts off rather well for them... until they try to clear a room, and a glitch in Shack Tac's grenade system causes a grenade thrown into the room to teleport back to Dslyecxi's feet and explode there. Dslyecxi's narration acknowledges that the video ending like that after just over 5 minutes of action is pretty underwhelming, so he creates a different version, where he and two other Shackers storm the room, [[NoKillLikeOverkill shoot the enemy inside at least fifty times]] while rock music plays loudly, then they run out and shortly afterward the entire building explodes dramatically behind them. |
| 463 | -->'''Youtube Comment:''' If Michael Bay directed Arma... |
| 464 | * RiskingTheKing: [=Kevb0=]'s modus operandi. Even when leading the entire Platoon[=/=]Company, he is unlikely to stay out of combat for long. To make matters worse, [=Kevb0=] is not exactly known for being cautious. |
| 465 | * RobbingTheDead: If someone goes down in an accessible position, others will quickly move to loot his corpse. Their survival may depend on it. Shackers use a lot of discretion in deciding what to take from the body, so as to take only what they absolutely need, and leave the rest for others. A body will usually be picked clean very quickly, leaving only clothes and redundant items. |
| 466 | ** When [=Rooster=] goes down in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5DF-SmwXec D.E.A.D. Patrol]]'', Dslyecxi has this to say: |
| 467 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' Take his weapon. Take his stuff. Take his wallet! |
| 468 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcMs53LhH38 Healthy Paranoia]]'', after a massive explosion goes off nearby, Beagle staggers out of a building to find a gruesome scene of several dead cops lying on the ground outside. |
| 469 | --->'''Beagle:''' Oh my god, free guns. |
| 470 | * TheRoleplayer: Players are very much encouraged to be this, and discouraged from straying outside certain justifiable boundaries of their roles. At its most basic, this rule ensures that everyone behaves like a soldier would, usually (but not always) fighting to the death and protecting their comrades with their lives if necessary. However the rule becomes much more important whenever hostages, journalists, guerrillas, terrorists, [[PrivateMilitaryContractor PMCs]], [=UN=] troops, and any other non-standard roles are involved. Enforcement of this rule is one of the ways [=ShackTac=] reduces some of the chaos often involved in [[FirstPersonShooter FPS games]], while simultaneously making it possible to create coherent and engaging stories to enjoy. |
| 471 | ** A good example of this is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9cyfdFT6KI&t=2s Biting Cold]]'', Dslyecxi's [=POV=] of [=ShackTac=]'s first zombie mission in [=ArmA=] 3. Pretty much everybody is role-playing and staying in-character here, to set the mood and avoid breaking immersion. In contrast, Taconic's [=POV=] of the same mission (''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8nBroY_y5w&t=0s Awfully Familiar]]'') shows another group that was almost totally out-of-character the entire time. Despite it being the same exact mission, the contrast between these two [=POV=]s is quite striking. |
| 472 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzG2tCcsoeg Cheese Bits]]'', [=Chris(CHA)=]'s character wears a full EOD face mask. To simulate what that would be like, Chris fixed a cup to his microphone with a rubber band, and speaks into the cup throughout the entire episode - much to Dslyecxi's chagrin. |
| 473 | * SelfDestructiveCharge: Bricks' charge towards the airfield, at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4F5V7EjuTE BMD Rally, Part 2]]''. The company's surviving Armored Personnel Carriers, along with what's left of the mechanized infantry, make a final 700m push towards their ultimate objective. Bricks himself is mowed down [[DeathIsDramatic in slow-motion]] half-way through, but a vehicle and a few men actually make it, [[PyrrhicVictory winning the mission]]. |
| 474 | * SeriousBusiness / RuleOfFun: The two halves of the team's creed. |
| 475 | * ShaggyDogStory: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe6PcIP9nic&t=0s Saving the Day]]'', Dslyecxi and squad have been fleeing through a jungle. They make a stand in a village with a bunker, with Dslyecxi outside firing on enemy troops while the rest of the group takes refuge in the bunker. Then an enemy vehicle rolls up and starts spraying down the bunker with machine gun fire. Despite prior wounds and being seriously wounded again, (to the point where he keeps passing in and out of consciousness) Dslyecxi first manages to shoot out the tires of the vehicle and then destroy it. He staggers back to the bunker to celebrate with everyone about how the day is saved... and finds that [[EverybodysDeadDave everyone in the bunker was killed by the heavy machine gun fire]]. |
| 476 | -->'''Dslyecxi:''' [Fires on the vehicle until it suddenly bursts into flame] I-I did it! I did it, guys! I saved us! ... guys? [Passes out, regains consciousness, then reaches the bunker and sees all the bodies inside] O-oh noooooo. Fuck. |
| 477 | * ShellShockedVeteran: After falling behind his team for a few minutes at the start of the mission in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eefhWk7nkZ8 Lost & Confused]]'', Kilroy catches up to discover that they've all been killed. He spends the rest of the mission pretending to be shell-shocked, and moaning to Dslyecxi about how he "couldn't save them". Then again, he took a long vacation from Shack Tactical only a couple of weeks later, so... |
| 478 | * ShootEverythingThatMoves: Fire discipline and friend/foe identification is strictly observed, averting this trope... most of the time. Taconic's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfriCBonr0 I've Done a Bad Thing]]'' shows one example of what happens when you don't double-check your targets. |
| 479 | * TheSiege: Occurs often in Adversarial ([=PvP=]) missions, since the attackers often get a much larger force than the defenders. However it becomes a whole 'nother ballgame when the players are defending against [=AI=], because there will be waves and waves of them. These missions are [[UnwinnableByDesign rarely designed to be winnable]]. |
| 480 | ** [=CHKilroy=]'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLGkan_Gzo Hill Defense]]'' is a good example - with the defenders getting massive fortification material and practically unlimited ammo - which doesn't help. |
| 481 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJefxBUXNSQ Sorry, So Sorry!]]'' was an adversarial siege so one sided in favor of the defenders [[SympathyForTheDevil that it causes Dslyecxi to say he feels sorry for the attackers]] several times throughout the mission, sometimes even as he's gunning them down. By the end, it's clear that the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth. |
| 482 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXCD76vUJE4 Die Hardest]]'' is one of the most famous sieges Shack Tac ever played, with the complicating factor that the defenders are low on ammo and mostly trying to hold out long enough to escape with help of backup forces. The climax is pretty much pure awesome. |
| 483 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncM85MZRzic Shoots and Ladders]]'' features the Shackers playing as Secret Service agents against an AI enemy, and trying to protect the Vice President from being captured. They have to hole up in a small town, (most in the town's fire station) and attempt to hold out until they can be rescued by a Ranger detachment. [[spoiler:The Vice President is kept safe, but [[SoleSurvivor only a single member]] of the Secret Service guard survives the siege.]] |
| 484 | * ShownTheirWork: Dslyecxi has thousands of hours of flight time on ''[=ArmA=]'' helicopters, and will often deliberately show off those skills, to remind us that he's simply the best. |
| 485 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEf4CVlzrp0 Four on the Floor]]'' is full of this, but particularly the maneuver at the very end. All four littlebirds manage to land on that one roof, but Dslyecxi [[spoiler:perches his littlebird on a ledge]]. |
| 486 | * {{Smurfing}}: Beagle's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymH-gKoOoc0 Team SPECTRE]] devolves into this, substituting "tango" for more and more of their words. |
| 487 | -->'''Beagle (Tango Actual):''' There's a tango 500 tangos ahead, behind that tango.\ |
| 488 | '''Taconic:''' I hear tangos to the northeast.\ |
| 489 | '''Beagle:''' Tango that. I see a whole bunch of tangos across the river. [...] Alright, we're gonna move up through the low trees into that building and flank those tangos.\ |
| 490 | '''Taconic:''' Tango Two tangos.\ |
| 491 | '''[=TeaJay=]:''' Tango Three tangos.\ |
| 492 | '''Soylent:''' Tango One also tangos.\ |
| 493 | '''Beagle:''' Tango Team, cut the tango.\ |
| 494 | '''Soylent:''' [[LampshadeHanging Smurf yeah.]] |
| 495 | * SoftWater: |
| 496 | ** At the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7h-J5pR478 First in Flight]]'', [=Kevb0=] orders Dslyecxi's Amtrack[[note]]an [=AMphibious TRACKed=] fighting vehicle[[/note]] to load up some troops and withdraw from the top of the hill back down towards the shoreline. The road down (which they had spent most of the video driving up) is a steep slalom with lots of hard turns, making it difficult to navigate. So [=Kevb0=] orders Dslyecxi to set a course directly towards the shoreline and hit the gas. The Amtrack [[spoiler:jumps off a cliffside at top speed (taking its eponymous flight), and plunges straight into the water of the bay below, perfectly undamaged]]. |
| 497 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPkRZKwI__Y Advanced Assault Swan Divers]]'' begins on a friendly ship, with the unit's amphibious vehicles diving gracefully off the top deck straight into the ocean. |
| 498 | * SoleSurvivor: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncM85MZRzic Shoots and Ladders]]'', a team of Secret Service agents has to protect the Vice President from being killed or captured. Only one of the agents makes it to the end of the mission. |
| 499 | * SpiderSense: The most veteran Shackers seem like they've developed a Spider Sense of sorts, and again, Dslyecxi has what can almost be described as a real-life, full-fledged Spider Sense. Of course, this is simply a result of them being skilled enough in tactics to instantly read the terrain and expect an ambush or assault, or to guess in advance what the KillerGameMaster is about to throw at them. Occasionally, the Spider Sense manifests as a FiveSecondForeshadowing. |
| 500 | ** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv1TsTOzvL8 Harsh Winter]]'': |
| 501 | --->[The platoon dismounts from their vehicles and head into a snowy, dark, quiet forest]\ |
| 502 | '''Dslyecxi:''' This is suspicious.\ |
| 503 | [Three seconds later, they come into contact with an entire enemy squad that's in the process of flanking them] |
| 504 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cbWWE45vZ4 Dodging This]]'', Dslyecxi literally [[BulletDodge dodges bullets]] thanks to this skill. |
| 505 | * SpiritualSuccessor: If you watch enough videos, you'll see that some videos can have strong parallels to past missions. Some might almost seem like a remake or recreation of a past mission. For example: |
| 506 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8xJuJ-B8I4 Shooting Gallery]]'' a platoon gets overwhelmed by massive numbers, and after suffering heavy losses, they are forced to retreat to a beach where there is almost no cover and they have to hold out there while the remaining helicopters make a desperate attempt at a rescue. Five years later almost to the day in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9FjR8oKR8 Beach Slapped]]'', a platoon that has been overwhelmed by massive numbers suffers heavy casualties, and is forced to retreat to a beach that has almost no cover where they have to try to hold out while the remaining helicopters brave heavy fire and attempt a rescue. The way these two missions end is very, very different however. ''Shooting Gallery'' featured the pilots coming up with [[CrazyEnoughToWork unorthodox tactics]] that allowed them to successfully extract most of the players who made it to the beach, complete with a heartwarming example of NoOneGetsLeftBehind when Beagle refused to leave the last injured soldier behind to die and [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome somehow saved him]]. ''Beach Slapped'' shows the enemy AI shooting down or blowing up every single helicopter that attempts to rescue the Shack Tac players, [[DownerEnding the rescue attempt fails]], and [[EverybodyDiesEnding everyone dies]]. |
| 507 | * StuffBlowingUp: |
| 508 | ** The subject of the video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhqdOWeuBXU Satchels for Everyone]]'', which documents Dslyecxi's copious use of satchel charges in "The Game" scenarios. |
| 509 | ** The climax of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x7g2oQs7xA Fire from the Sky]]'', where [=BLUFOR=]'s entire air support (consisting of two attack helicopters and an A-10) rains incredible amounts of explosive fire down on a Russian armored column, has become one of [=ShackTac=]'s hall-of-fame moments. The entire segment is showcased in its own highlight video, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0np7HOiSk Strike from the Sky, Brothers]]''. |
| 510 | * SuicideMission: The ending of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sil78cF7Euc Redcon]]'' has Dslyecxi performing one of these with [=SlappyMoose=]. [[spoiler: They steal an enemy vehicle and use it to drive right up to the enemy's exfiltration point, taking out many of them before being gunned down]]. |
| 511 | * SuperPersistentPredator: In [=CHKilroy's=] ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLDvLBrr1Sw I'm Sorry, Okay? Please Stop]]'', Kilroy hits a tank with a rocket. The tank's machine gun then spends the next thirty seconds tracking a fleeing Kilroy and trying to gun him down, seemingly ignoring other, more stationary targets to do so. It does eventually get him. |
| 512 | -->'''[=CHKilroy:=]''' This some bullshit! |
| 513 | * SuperSenses: Several of the [=Shackers=] are suspected of having these. |
| 514 | ** [=CHKilroy=] is known for his eagle eyes. |
| 515 | ** Not only is Taconic capable of hearing vehicles approaching from miles away, he is often able to tell what kind of vehicles they are, even at such distances. He can also differentiate between weapon models on hearing them firing a few times. But perhaps most incredibly, he can understand everything [[TheUnintelligible [=EvilScotsman=]]] says. |
| 516 | *** Dslyecxi ridicules him for it a few times during ''[[https://youtu.be/lnt3K9KwmVE?t=11m Stop When You're Dead]]''. |
| 517 | ----> '''Taconic:''' I think we just had [=PKT=][[note]]Russian vehicle-mounted machine gun[[/note]] fire from the south-west.\ |
| 518 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Can't you just call it machine-gun fire?\ |
| 519 | '''Taconic:''' Well, [=PKT=] means a vehicle!\ |
| 520 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Ugh.\ |
| 521 | '''Burncycle:''' [=PKT-A2=], I think.\ |
| 522 | '''Dslyecxi:''' The fact that you can distinctly tell that is... it's not...\ |
| 523 | '''Taconic:''' Well, [=PKT=] sounds slightly different.\ |
| 524 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [[DeadpanSnarker That one guy over there is firing a Yugoslavian [=AK=] with a forced receiver. I think it sounds like a 1978 or so]]. |
| 525 | *** And again during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL6cnx7iupA Self Rescue]]'': |
| 526 | ----> '''Taconic:''' What the hell are they firing? I don't recognize the sound.\ |
| 527 | '''Dslyecxi:''' You're talking about the enemy?\ |
| 528 | '''Taconic:''' Yeah, what are they firing?\ |
| 529 | '''Dslyecxi:''' You don't recognize the enemy's weapon?\ |
| 530 | '''Taconic:''' No.\ |
| 531 | '''Dslyecxi:''' Let me make sure I'm recording. |
| 532 | *** Another good example is an exchange from early in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GptEjGAb5U8 War Weary]]''. As the squad is assaulting to retake a small hill, Taconic (who is way behind everybody else) is the first to realize that there is an enemy vehicle right behind that hill. He then identifies it as a [=BTR=] based on the sound of its bursts. Due to unexplained [[GenreBlind Genre Blindness]], Cappy decides to instead [[IgnoredExpert report the vehicle on radio as a [=BMP=]]] - only to take that back after just a few seconds. |
| 533 | ---->'''Taconic:''' [[IWarnedYou Called it!]] |
| 534 | *** In the 5th episode of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xicZ-Gs89Ps Hindsight]]'' Dslyecxi mentions how a BRDM's PKT machine gun sounds similar to an infantry PKM. In the comment section, user djizomdjinn remarks: ''"It's a shame you didn't have Taconic in your squad, he could probably have told you the serial number of the BRDM off the sound of its machine gun."'' |
| 535 | ** Dslyecxi plays on such a huge monitor (30", ~1600p) that he can sometimes see enemies and other objects at incredible distances. Magic has not yet been ruled out though. |
| 536 | *** Demonstrated marvelously during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cbWWE45vZ4 Dodging This]]''. [[spoiler: Dslyecxi spots incoming [=MG=] fire from a building half a mile away, before the bullets even reach his position.]] |
| 537 | * SuperstitionEpisode: Often happens whenever anyone decides to mention how lucky their team has been so far, or how few men they have lost so far, etc. [=ZX64=] is a vengeful god. |
| 538 | ** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with Ghostboots' Curse, which goes as follows: If Ghostboots and Dslyecxi are in the same unit, and Dslyecxi is leading that unit, then Ghostboots will stay alive as long as Dslyecxi is alive. The Curse worked perfectly for many months, even in videos where someone in the unit [[TemptingFate directly jinxed themselves]] (''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMidDPdxpU Tap Tap in Drip Drip]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBYPsVAUP5c Rainy Round-Up]]''). So, for a while, this superstition averted [=ShackTac's=] normal superstitions. |
| 539 | * SympathyForTheDevil: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJefxBUXNSQ Sorry, so sorry!]]'', Dslyecxi's team is falls back to a defensive compound to try to hold it against an enemy assault. Said compound has only one entrance, walls that cannot be breached, defensive towers, and Dslyecxi's team has a plan for where and how to deploy themselves. The result is such a one-sided slaughter that on several occasions during the match Dslyecxi says he feels sorry for the other side. At least one other member of his team says something similar during the video, and when they ultimately win, Dslyecxi sounds disgusted about the whole thing. |
| 540 | -->'''Dslyecxi:''' This is one of the most fucked up missions I've played in ''[[VideoGame/{{ArmA}} ArmA III]]''. |
| 541 | * TagalongReporter: Of the worst kind. It never ends well, either. |
| 542 | ** [=CHKilroy=] and Bobik in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4aPlXrS3c Embedded with the Coast Guardsmen]]''. They pester ''everybody they come across'' for interviews, even in the middle of combat. |
| 543 | ** [=CHKilroy=] and Beagle --errr-- Chad Kilroy and Beags "Bobby" [=LeGaul=] in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONaCz7T74cw AAN Evening Report]]''. Failing to get a scoop out of the soldiers they're with, they decide to pester ''the enemy'' instead. [[spoiler: This gets them both killed]]. |
| 544 | * TemporalParadox: Thanks to the weirdest bug ever, Beagle ends up confronting and murdering ''himself'' in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRS6QfTV9cE DayZ Time Paradox]]''. |
| 545 | * TemptingFate: Commenting on how well your team has been doing so far in the mission is a good way to [[SpeakOfTheDevil invoke the wrath of the gods]], not to mention invoke the groans of your fellow team-members. |
| 546 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDS5XvzvHI FAC Tanoa]]'', after taking the second out of three objectives in the deep jungle, Platoon Leader Morgan asks Taconic for his opinion on [[TwoRoadsBeforeYou whether they should try to get the last objective, or extract from the combat zone before nightfall]]. Taconic says that they should go for the final objective, to which Morgan quickly agrees. Before he can even relay the order to the rest of the platoon, Morgan is shot dead by friendly fire, and Taconic ([[YouAreInCommandNow the new Platoon Leader]]) decides to extract from the combat zone before nightfall. |
| 547 | ** Done intentionally (complete with LampshadeHanging) by Ghostboots in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZLNhqrSEZc The Hubris of Ghostboots]]''. As the mission is one of the UnwinnableByDesign types where the Shackers are besieged by eternally respawning waves of enemies until they are overwhelmed, Ghostboots decided to go all in on tempting fate and does so an incredible number of times over the course of the video, between repeated boasting, repeatedly claiming that the tower that Ghostboots is using as his command center shall not fall, ''naming the tower Tower Hubris'', etc. Not that any of this stops him from screaming in fright when things go wrong, and that in turn doesn't stop him from going back to boasting again afterwards. |
| 548 | ** In one mission, after taking a small fortification, Dslyecxi discovers that the D-30 field gun inside the fort is operable. He gets in, and begins to snipe groups of enemy infantry with 122mm High-Explosive shells at long range, blowing them to smithereens ''and enjoying every moment of it''. He even mentions that he'd studied how to fire a field gun, but never thought he'd get to use one in action. When the Squad Leader informs everybody that they're going to be moving ahead in the vehicles, Dslyecxi mischiveously asks whether they can take the D-30 with them. ''Not only'' does Command approve of this idea, the others quickly determine that the game does indeed allows a D-30 to be loaded into one of the trucks. On the other hand, Dslyecxi is quite aware of how overpowered a mobile D-30 would be in their particular situation, and he figures they should probably leave it. [=GDR=] goads him to try it anyway ("[[LastWords What's the worst that could happen?]]"), prompting Dslyecxi to start reminiscing about another game that had great field artillery mechanics. It is at that point that Dslyecxi, still not 100% satisfied and brimming with excitement (as much as a Badass can be, anyway), hazards to ask whether the D-30 can be ''towed'' behind one of the vehicles. He receives the answer "yes". '''He then receives an [=RPG=] to the face.''' The title of the video? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k8VrYuu8Tc Worth it]]. |
| 549 | * TerrainSculpting: Tanks and other heavy vehicles can knock down certain objects in the terrain, and sometimes this is done purposefully to get a clearer line of sight to where enemies might be. |
| 550 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrhpd5KhI-o&t=0s Very Successfully Preparing a Position]]'', Dslyecxi has Crane drive their vehicle over some very-carefully-selected trees and walls in order to set up a nice position. Barring a little weird physics, it goes almost entirely according to plan. |
| 551 | --> '''Dslyecxi:''' [Chuckling] "We've leveled literally everything except for the thing that I wanted to keep up, so that's great. And, [[EverybodyLives no friendlies died during the creation of this position]]." |
| 552 | * ThatOneBoss: |
| 553 | ** The AA emplacement at the end of [=CHKilroy=]'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiSlk-7rk3g Mech Heist]]'', which manages to bring the entire assault to a halt, and slaughter half of the remaining forces, before finally being taken out.[[invoked]] |
| 554 | ** Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kK6D0-tA0 Boss Battle]]'', where the troops come across a single enemy in a barn who simply cannot be killed (but who can and does shoot back). Their attempts to kill him rapidly escalate from single shots, to bursts, to grenades, and finally rocket launchers, with no avail. |
| 555 | * ThatOnePlayer: Dslyecxi is famous for his uncanny ability to single-handedly take down a ridiculous number of enemy soldiers, through a combination of stealth and manipulating game psychology, to the point that a running gag within the group is dslyecxi being a hacker and players ingame calling 'dslyecxi watch' when he is known to be in the area. |
| 556 | ** Exemplified in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz1Pu5tG3rg Sage Advice]]''. Dslyecxi is part of a machine gun team, and Bravo squad has just linked up with them. |
| 557 | ---> '''Bravo 2 FTL:''' Bravo 2, make sure you can see the whole northwest and northern approach. [[GenreSavvy I don't want fuckin'... Dslyecxi or anybody coming up behind us.]]\ |
| 558 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [looks over towards Bravo 2] That's ok, I probably won't flank us. |
| 559 | ** During one run of ''Dark Business'', while playing as a Russian soldier, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PKPX-f2j4w Dslyecxi raced to a dark building]] soon to be occupied by the semi-hostile Independent forces. After spending some time running around amongst them in the darkness, he calmly walked right into the middle of a group of about six of them, and waited for them to notice him. Then, this exchange took place: |
| 560 | --->[...After several moments of uncertainty...]\ |
| 561 | '''IND Soldier:''' Hey, we have a Russian up here.\ |
| 562 | ''[[LetsGetDangerous Everyone takes a step forward]].''\ |
| 563 | '''IND Soldier:''' It's [[MookHorrorShow Dslyecxi]].\ |
| 564 | ''[[MassOhCrap Everyone takes a step back]]''.\ |
| 565 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [[{{Troll}} I've been here the entire time, if that helps you sleep better]].\ |
| 566 | '''IND NCO:''' [[OhCrap Jesus]] [[ParanoiaFuel Christ]]. |
| 567 | ** Also from a few moments later in the same video, after Dslyecxi has been placed under close watch by several IND forces while waiting for the deal to go down: |
| 568 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' You guys need to relax. There's one of me, and there's, like, many of you.\ |
| 569 | '''IND Guard:''' Yeah, there's one of you, but it only takes one of you to kill everyone. |
| 570 | ** Likewise, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZuvRiyIh6c&hd=1 a cornered Dslyecxi is the most dangerous Dslyecxi]]. |
| 571 | * Advertising/TheMostInterestingManInTheWorld: Dslyecxi riffs on this at the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSHYrbDE6Q8 CHKilroy Assassination Attempt]]'' |
| 572 | --> '''Dslyecxi:''' I don't always friendly-fire, but when I do, I prefer [=CHKilroy=]. |
| 573 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7NQ684xdR4 No Pressure]]'', Taconic thought he was firing on maybe two tanks, and was planning to [[HitAndRunTactics change position right after shooting a rocket at them and then try again]]. Just after firing, however, Taconic sees that he actually just fired at an entire tank column, with four or five visible. All of those tanks fire on Taconic's position as one before he even has a chance to move. After that barrage, it's probably safe to say that [[NotEnoughToBury they couldn't find enough left of Taconic's body to fill a soup can]]. |
| 574 | -->'''Player in chat:''' Oh ''fuck'', man. He got '''annihilated''' by those tanks. |
| 575 | * TheyKilledKennyAgain: [[AnyoneCanDie Everybody dies often]], but some people die more often than others... |
| 576 | ** During the first decade or so of ''[=ShackTac=]'' [=YouTube=] uploads, [=Kevb0=] died [[OncePerEpisode in almost every video in which he appeared]]. Usually, he got himself killed by charging at the enemy, or while standing in the open to observe enemy movement. He's gotten better at it since then. |
| 577 | ** Awo was also known for rarely making it through to the end of any mission. Like [=Kevb0=], he has gotten a little better at surviving since then. |
| 578 | ** At the end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbEuYpuuDaw Tangos Down]]'', when everyone's basically waiting for the mission to end: |
| 579 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' This is our limit of advance, so we're just waiting until the [other units] get their shit together.\ |
| 580 | '''[=CraneSong=]:''' Alpha's over there, so that's to be expected.\ |
| 581 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [*Checks the roster, sees [=Kevb0=] is leading Bravo*] I mean, look at Alpha ''and'' Bravo. Well, actually, Bravo Lead is still alive, so that's... something.\ |
| 582 | '''Worty:''' [*Laughs*] Oh, fuckin' [=Kevb0=].\ |
| 583 | '''Dslyecxi:''' We're probably playing this mission until we hear [=Kevb0=]'s dead, and then it's over. |
| 584 | ** In mid-2021, Dslyecxi mentioned in a video that according to in-house record-keeping, [=MGbait=] is currently the player who has died the most times. This surprised no one. |
| 585 | * ThinkNothingOfIt: |
| 586 | ** At the start of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mRQ_L-B-88 Celle Bridge Quick Clash]]'', Dslyecxi has the idea to take his fireteam into the woods west of town, to defend the flank (an idea which pays off big-time later). He takes his team and spreads them out in the forest, then calls his commanding officer, Beagle: |
| 587 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' Dearest Beagle, this is Alpha 1.\ |
| 588 | '''Beagle:''' Hello Dslyecxi.\ |
| 589 | '''Dslyecxi:''' I have positioned my team, temporarily, on the north-west side of the town, to scout for [the enemy]. When we take contact, we will fall back towards our bunker.\ |
| 590 | '''Beagle:''' That's an excellent idea, Alpha 1. Good work.\ |
| 591 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [[SarcasmMode I can't take credit for this, sir]]. [[BlatantLies You're the one who told me to do this]].\ |
| 592 | '''Beagle:''' [[InternalRetcon Yes. Of course]]. |
| 593 | ** In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykbPcghTTyA Cold Roll]]'', Dslyecxi's BMP-2 destroys an enemy vehicle that was about to kill Ghostboots. A few minutes later: |
| 594 | ---> '''Ghostboots:''' [On radio] Thanks for saving my life by killing that BMP, M-2.\ |
| 595 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [On radio] You're welcome, it's [[AllAPartOfTheJob all part of the job]].\ |
| 596 | '''Dslyecxi:''' [Off radio] ''[[DeadpanSnarker We don't get to choose who we save]].'' |
| 597 | * ThisIsGonnaSuck: |
| 598 | ** Dslyecxi has one of these moments in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sil78cF7Euc Redcon]]''. After having placed a powerful mine on the road where the enemy convoy is expected to pass, Dslyecxi lingers in the area a little longer than he probably should have, when suddenly the enemy convoy shows up. With not enough time to get away, all he can do is hide in a bush a dozen meters from the mine, and watch Humvee after Humvee zoom past, awaiting the sudden explosion which would mean his death too. Seven Humvees pass. [[spoiler: All seven miss the mine]]. |
| 599 | ** Another in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVbCCSY57Rk Too Hot to FAC]]''. Dslyecxi serves as a Forward Air Controller ([=FAC=]) for a couple of Apaches, in support of an armored company advance. While he is surveying the battlefield from behind a large rock atop a tall ridge occupied by friendlies, an enemy armored company begins to charge towards them across the wide valley. The friendly and enemy tanks exchange heavy fire with each other, but [[ImplacableMan the enemy tanks draw ever closer]]. As enemy engine noises begin to be heard coming up the hill towards him, the friendly tanks begin to withdraw, leaving Dslyecxi all alone behind his rock in the face of the approaching enemy. He does his best to continue observing the battlefield, when suddenly a loud engine noise directly behind him draws his attention: An enemy T-72 right on top of him. |
| 600 | --->[Beat]\ |
| 601 | '''Dslyecxi [on Air net]:''' Well, it was nice knowin' you. |
| 602 | * TooDumbToLive: {{In Universe}} during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DSjp9S_UGw Cambodian Road Trip]]''. First off, Fearmeister and some of his teammates foolishly scout forward into some tall grass, smack into Dslyecxi's firing line. Unable to distinguish them from enemies in that patch of grass, Dslyecxi opens fire and hits Fearmeister. Ghostboots (the Medic) then has to run up there to bandage him under fire. When Fearmeister's all patched up, he runs back to the line, but despite Ghostboots' warning he gets himself severely injured by standing [[GoodBadBugs on a small patch of rocks]]. |
| 603 | --> '''Ghostboots:''' ''How did you hurt yourself this much?!'' You know what, Dslyecxi? I'm starting to believe you didn't hit him with a single bullet. |
| 604 | * TragicKeepsake: Since early 2017, Dslyecxi has consistently been taking Crane's watch off her body every single time she dies. Also, both Dslyecxi and Crane always take the automatic rifle off each other's bodies and use it to kill scores of enemies in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, but that's more of a rational combat decision than a purely sentimental gesture. |
| 605 | * TranslatorBuddy: Taconic to [=EvilScotsman=]. |
| 606 | * TrialAndErrorGameplay: [=Shackers=] die very often, and they tend to learn the lesson. That is, after all, one of the main advantages of a combat simulator like ''VideoGame/ArmA''. |
| 607 | ** Explained by Dslyecxi himself in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIW0vnuwCQs Ordinary Demi-Bradleys]], after Crane tells Dslyecxi that she was reluctant to back up the Bradley for fear of running over nearby friendly infantry: |
| 608 | --->'''Dslyecxi:''' Reversing in this kind of context, I think it's basically a free move. If anyone is dumb enough to be behind us in this kind of environment, they're doing it wrong. And that's how they learn the lesson! |
| 609 | * {{Troperiffic}}: Viewers have remarked that Beagle's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GdoyykoT14 "Zombies of Zargabad"]] video contains every zombie movie trope ever. |
| 610 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: Ghostboots has become ''[=ShackTac's=]'' semi-official ButtMonkey. He receives a lot of shit-talk from the others, though mostly as response to the amount of shit he talks about others himself. In an in-universe meme, he has been nicknamed "Paper Bitch". Nonetheless, Ghostboots has an amazing tendency to survive very difficult combat situations - and entire missions - while displaying impressive abilities. |
| 611 | ** In the very same video that first featured the "Paper Bitch" meme, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6_Ij-pEIY Hold Until Relieved]]'', Ghostboots was the unit's last survivor, and managed to show off some incredible skills defending his position (to the death). |
| 612 | ---> '''Ghostboots:''' Get fucked!\ |
| 613 | [Blows up a troop truck]\ |
| 614 | Get fucked!\ |
| 615 | [Blows up a tank] |
| 616 | * UnflinchingWalk: One is [[InvokedTrope deliberately orchestrated]] in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd7V8yfIGMM Explosions]]''. Guess who does the walk? [[spoiler:Dslyecxi, of course]]. |
| 617 | * TheUnintelligible: [=EvilScotsman=], whom even other Scotsmen may have problems understanding. Fortunately, he usually has [[TranslatorBuddy Taconic]] to translate for him. |
| 618 | * TheUnpronounceable: Awoihjaweohr. [[note]]Or, Awo.[[/note]] |
| 619 | ** Dslyecxi jokingly attempted to pronounce it in the intro to ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkD2hNHHgc Quiet Woodland Walk]]'': |
| 620 | ---> '''Dslyecxi:''' Ah-woo-hey-jowah... or "Awo", as we prefer to call him... |
| 621 | * UnwinnableByDesign: The ''Last Breath'' and ''Last Stand'' missions. They are gauntlets, with waves upon waves of AI-controlled enemies attempting to overwhelm a heavily-fortified position. The players are expected to give the best show they can before they inevitably die. |
| 622 | ** Dslyecxi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1TFt5q44cg Last Breath]]'' begins by outright stating that the mission is unwinnable. |
| 623 | ** Any mission designed by Awo will be this. They contain a spectacular number of enemy assets that keeps escalating until all players are dead. Awo missions have been won in the past, but extremely rarely. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4x5LImY9pk One of his missions]] was designed to be so difficult that it ended before it even started. |
| 624 | * UriahGambit: Dslyecxi does this to Rouza, a [=pFNG=], during ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYPyFbObkXo Company of pFNGs]]'', after Rouza says he is surprised to still be alive. As punishment for the sin of TemptingFate, Dslyecxi asks Phil to specifically put Rouza on point during a charge across some open ground. [[spoiler:Dslyecxi is quite disappointed when Rouza survives that charge]]. |
| 625 | * WeNeedADistraction: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYT2HwKZQfs Calgon Business]]'', Beagle and his Independent force decide to try and steal the ammo truck from right under the Russians' noses. The distraction, in this case, is for Beagle himself to negotiate with the Russians about the sale of the hostages for the price of that very same truck. |
| 626 | * WhosLaughingNow: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C-g0T3O_nM Giggles the Carjacker]]'', that's who. |
| 627 | * YouAreInCommandNow: [=ShackTac=] follows U.S. Military doctrine for taking command when officers go down.[[note]]The progression is 1) Company Commander to [=XO=]; 2) [=XO=] to Platoon Leader, starting with [=1PLT=]; 3) Platoon Leader to Platoon Sergeant; 4) Platoon Sergeant to Squad Leader, starting with [=ASL=]; 5) Squad Leader to Fireteam Leader, starting with [=1FTL=]; 6) Fireteam Leader to the next person in the fireteam, and so on.[[/note]] This occurs in most missions, at least to some extent. Of course, with [[TotalPartyKill near-total wipeouts]] of an entire platoon or company being not uncommon, low-ranking soldiers do sometimes get a chance to command the survivors - though there usually aren't many by that point. |
| 628 | * YouHaveFailedMe: Very, very rare, but in some cases Dslyecxi has punished members who have {{Friendly Fire}}d on teammates, mostly if said teammates were assigned to be group leaders and officers for that mission. |
| 629 | ** One prominent example comes near the end of ''[[https://youtu.be/kDP50m0fnSQ?t=13m43s Foymer's Barn]]'', after Madcows accidentally shoots team leader Tatertot. When Madcows can't give an explanation that satisfies Dslyecxi, Dslyecxi responds by ordering Madcows to look at Tatertot and not look away. After giving Madcows just enough time to let him think that maybe Dslyecxi isn't going to punish him after all, [[UnfriendlyFire Dslyecxi shoots Madcows in the back of the head]] and later Mr. H blames it on an enemy sniper in the nearby woods... [[ImplausibleDeniability despite the fact that Shack Tac, as mentioned many time on this page, doesn't incorporate snipers or scopes on guns]] in their ''ARMA'' sessions. |
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